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SOCIOLOGY 

ITS    DEVELOPMENT 
AND  APPLICATIONS 


SOCIOLOGY 

ITS  DEVELOPMENT 
AND  APPLICATIONS 


BY 

JAMES  QUAYLE  DEALEY,  Ph.D. 

PROFESSOR    OF    SOCIAL    AMD    POUTICAL    SCIENCE    IN    BROWN    UNIVERSITY; 
AUTHOR  OF  "the   state  AND  GOVERNMENT,"    "GROWTH  OF  STATE 
CONSTITUTIONS,"  "THE  FAMILY  IN  ITS  SOCIOLOGICAL  ASPECTS," 
AND,  CONJOINTLY  WITH  LESTER  F.  WARD,  "A  TEXT- 
BOOK OF  SOCIOLOGY." 


D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  LONDON 

1920 


COPYRIGHT,   1920,   BY 

D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY 


FKINIXD  IN  THE  DOTTED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 


>B 


Hr\GG 


PREFACE 


Ti  This  work  is  an  enlargement  and  revision  of  the  au- 

thor's Sociology  issued  in  1909.     In  it  no  attempt  has 
been  made  to  work  out  a  system,  a  sufficient  number  of 

*^  which  already  exist,  or  to  set  forth  novel  and  untried 
hypotheses  in  social  theory.  The  author  has  sought  rather 
to  give  a  sort  of  survey  of  sociological  development,  so 
that  the  reader  interested  in  social  problems,  or  the  stu- 

«K^       dent  desirous  of  a  comprehensible  statement  of  the  main 

^       aspects  of  sociology,  may  have  in  fairly  brief  compass 
a  general  view  of  its  rise  and  its  relations  to  other  sci- 
ences, a  sketch  of  the  development  of  social  institutions, 
P5     and  a  short  discussion  of  social  problems  and  of   the 
factors  to  be  considered  in  social  progress. 

The  volume,  as  a  textbook  for  college  purposes,  may  be 
supplemented  by  more  detailed  studies  and  by  personal 
investigations  of  social  conditions  on  the  part  of  the  stu- 
;-■  dents.  '  Its  reading  references,  purposely  abl^reviated, 
".  may  aid  the  general  reader  to  follow  more  closely  such 
aspects  as  may  arouse  interest.  If  both  student  and 
reader  find  the  presentation  of  the  subject  matter  fairly 
clear  and  helpful  to  an  understanding  of  social  questions, 
the  purpose  of  the  author  will  have  been  fulfilled. 

At  the  present  time  the  whole  social  world  is  in  fer- 
ment as  the  result  of  the  World  War,  and  the  economic 
and  political  aspects  of  European  society  are  in  tran- 
sition, working  towards  readjustments.  No  one  can  fore- 
tell wh-'t  the  outcome  will  be  in  western  civilization,  but 

V 


vi  PREFACE  > 

sociology  can  blaze  at  least  a  trail  and  indicate  in  a  gen- 
eral way  the  direction  that  should  be  taken.  Admittedly 
the  science  is  not  an  infallible  guide  in  the  "no  man's 
land"  of  social  reconstruction.  The  field  it  aims  to  cover 
is  exceedingly  complex,  and  its  conclusions  must  be  ten- 
tative for  many  years  to  come.  Yet  it  is  obvious  that 
sociological  teachings  have  already  powerfully  affected 
the  world's  point  of  view  and  are  rapidly  socializing  its 
policies.  This  task  of  socializing  public  opinion  is,  in 
the  author's  opinion,  of  vital  importance  to  national 
progress.  Sociology,  rightly  interpreted,  voices  the  safe 
and  sane  attitude  towards  social  problems;  it  avoids,  on 
the  one  hand,  the  crude  individualism  of  the  Nineteenth 
Century,  and,  on  the  other,  that  rampant  radicalism 
which  favors  empty  panaceas  and  short  cuts  to  social 
perfection.  Sociology  realizes  that  evolution  is  better 
than  revolution,  that  haste  must  be  made  slowly,  and  that 
it  is  no  easy  task  to  quicken  the  leaden  feet  of  Nature. 

J.    Q.   DEi\.LEY. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface      v 

PART  I 

SOCIOLOGY  AND  ITS   KINDRED   SCIENCES 

CHAPTER  I 

SOCIETY 

The  Field  of  Social  Science,  i. — Early  Theories  of  Social  De- 
velopment, 2. — Hesiod's  Four  Ages,  3. — The  Cycle 
Theory,  4. — Ths  Ten  Epochs  of  Condorcet,  4. — Comte's 
Three  Stages,  5. — Five  Other  Theories  of  Development, 
6. — Other  Classifications  of  Development.  9. — Society 
and  the  Social  Group,  12 i 

CHAPTER  II 

WHAT  IS   SOCIAL   SCIENCE 

Social  Terminology,  14. — Social  Thinking  in  the  Earlier  Ages, 

17, — In  the  Later  Ages,  19 14 

CHAPTER  III 

SOCIAL  TEACHINGS   OP  EARLIER  CENTURIES 

Instruction  of  Ptah-Hotep,  21. — Teaching  of  Confucius,  22. — 
Other  Eastern  Teachings,  26. — Studies  of  Social  Institu- 
tions, 27. — Summary  of  Ancient  Teaching,  28. — Plato's 
Teachings,  29. — Roman  Influence,  31. — Saracenic  Social 
Teachings,  32. — Early  Modern  Writers,  33. — French 
Writers  of  the  Eighteenth  Century,  34. — English  Social 
Writers,  35. — The  Beginnings  of  Modern  Science,  36       .       21 

CHAPTER  IV 

THE    BEGINNINGS   OF   SOCIAL   SCIENCE 

Common  Sense  Philosophizing,  38. — Need  for  a  Science  of 
Society,  39,-=-Comte's  Sociology,  40. — Social  Points  of 


viii  CONTENTS 


PAGE 


View,  43. — Social  Causation,  44. — Sociology  a  Synthetic 
Science,  45. — ^Vagueness  of  the  Term  "Sociology,"  46. — 
The  Tasks  of  Sociology,  48 38 

CHAPTER  V 

THE   SCIENCE   OF   SOCIOLOGY 

Sociology  and  Social  Progress,  50. — Relativity  of  Knowledge, 
51. — Classification  of  the  Sciences,  52. — Relative  Utility 
of  the  Sciences,  53. — Three  Aspects  of  Science,  56. — Need 
of  Generalized  Knowledge,  57. — Social  Importance  of  the 
Basal  Sciences,  59.— Special  Social  Sciences,  61. — Soci- 
ology Synthetic,  62. — Sociology's  Relations  to  Philosophy 
and  Religion,  63. — Social  Prevision,  65. — Sociology  is 
Anthropocentric,  66 50 

CHAPTER  VI 

SOCIOLOGY   AND   BIOLOGY 

Social  Utility  of  Biology,  69. — The  Field  of  Anthropology,  70. 
— Organic  Theory  of  Society,  72. — Problem  of  Par- 
enthood, 74. — Ancient  Beliefs  Respecting  Heredity,  75. — 
Recent  Teachings,  79. — Social  Importance  of  Biological 
Teachings,  80 69 

CHAPTER  VII 

SOCIOLOGY   AND   PSYCHOLOGY 

Sociology  and  its  Basal  Sciences,  84. — Psychology  and  Soci- 
f  ology,    85. — Comte's   Psychology,    86. — Spencer's   Psy- 

^^  chology,  92. — Ward's  Psychology,  93. — Behaviorism,  94. 

— Freudianism,  98 84 

CHAPTER  VIII 

SOCIAL  BEHAVIORISM 

Social  Structure,  100. — Primitive  Social  Structures,  loi. — The 
Functioning  Process,  102. — Rise  of  Social  Interests,  103. — 
Perception  of  Social  Utility,  104. — Social  Unity,  106. — 
Social  Control  over  the  Sex  Instinct,  108 — Supernatural 
Fear,  108. — Social  Beliefs,  109. — Group  Antagonism,  iii. 
— Social  Action,  112. — Influence  of  Physical  Environ- 
ment, 112. — Food  as  a  Social  Factor,  114. — Contact  of 
Mind  with  Mind,  115 100 


CONTENTS  IX 

PAGE 

CHAPTER  IX 

SOCIAL  PSYCHOLOGY 

Social  Suggestibility  and  Suggestion,  ii8.— Social  Plasticity, 
122.— Social  Pressure,  123.— Social  Imitation,  124.— 
Rational  Imitatign,  125.— Social  Conflict,  126.  "Age  of 
Discussion,"  127.— Social  Control,  1 29.— Influence  of 
Social  Institutions,  130.— Relativity  of  Knowledge,  131. 
—Distinctions  in  Social  Control,  133.— The  Stimulus  of 
Hope,  133.— Social  Forces,  134.— Class  Control,  136.— 
Control  through  the  Elite,  138 "8 

PART  II 

SOCIETY  AND  ITS  INSTITUTIONS 

CHAPTER  X 

EARLY   SOCIAL   DEVELOPMENT 

Social  Origins,  143.— Definite  Social  Grouping,  147.— Former 
Utility  of  War,  149.— Social  Principles  Underlying  De- 
velopment, 151.— Sympathy  and  Imitation,  152. — The 
Intellect  and  Innovation,  153.— Group  Differences,  154. 
—Illustrations  of  these  Theories,  155 i43 

CHAPTER  XI 

ACHIEVEMENT  AND   CIVILIZATION 

Animal  Achievement,  159.— Human  Achievement,  160.— 
Material  Achievement,  162.— Cultural  Achievement,  162. 
—Meaning  of  Achievement,  164.— Tools  of  the  Mind,  165. 
—Social  Institutions  as  Achievements,  165.— Genetic 
Achievement,  167. — Telic  Achievement,  168. — Static 
Civilization,  169.— Static  Contrasted  with  Dynamic 
Civilization,  170.— National  Progress,  172.— The  Material 
as  a  Basis  for  the  Cultural.  173.— The  Relation  of  the 
Group  to  the  Individual,  175.— Class  Distinctions  in 
Culture,  176.— The  Growth  of  Talent  and  Genius,  176.— 
Social  Importance  of  Cultural  Civilization,  178.— Social 
Demand  for  Talent  and  Genius,  178.— Need  of  Cultural 

Ideals,  180 159 

CHAPTER  XII 

CIVILIZATION    STATIC   AND   DYNAMIC 

Static  and  Dynamic  Defined,  182.— Static  Civilization,  183.— 
Dynamic  Changes,  183. — Contrasts  between  Static  and 


X  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Dynamic,  185. — Mutual  Aid,  188. — Periods  of  Transition, 
189. — Economic  Basis  of  Changes,  190. — Other  Factors 
in  Change,  191. — Human  Inherent  Capacities,  192. — Four 
Factors  in  Progress,  194. — Amalgamation,  194. — Assimi- 
lation, 195. — Comprehension  of  Nature,  197. — Suitable 
Opportunity,  200 182 

CHAPTER  XIII 

THE   CLASSIFICATION   OF   SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS 

Unity  of  Social  Institutions,  203. — Social  Parallelism,  204. — 
Classifications  of  Social  Institutions,  204. — Meaning  of 
the  Term  Social  Institution,  205. — Genetic  Development, 
206. — The  Economic  Institution  is  Basal,  207. — Cultural 
Development,  208. — Differentiation  in  the  Study  of 
Social  Institutions,  209. — Comte's  Teaching,  209. — 
Spencer's  Study  of  Institutions,  210. — Schaffle's  Social 
Organism,  211. — ^Ward's  Classification,  212. — De  Greef's 
Classification,  212. — Other  Classifications,  213. — Ward's 
Social  Forces,  215. — Social  Interests,  217. — The  Social 
Institution,  217. — Many  Classifications  are  Possible, 
218 203 

CHAPTER  XIV 

ECONOMIC   DEVELOPMENT 

Influence  of  Physical  Nature,  222. — Migration,  223. — The 
Demand  for  Foods,  223. — Nomadism  and  Agriculture,  224. 
— Rise  of  Slavery,  226. — ^Rise  of  a  Leisure  Class.  227. — 
Trade  and  the  Industries,  228. — Resultant  Social  Achieve- 
ment, 228. — The  Utilization  of  the  Materials  and  Forces 
of  Nature,  230. — The  Natural  Wages  of  Labor,  231. — 
Modifications  in  Higher  Civilization,  233. — Economic 
Production  and  Distribution,  234. — Social  Consumption, 
235. — Present  Economic  Trend,  236 221 

CHAPTER  XV 

THE    FAMILY 

The  Primitive  Family  and  Kinship,  238. — Conjugal  Rela- 
tionships, 239. — Refinement  in  Sex  Relationships,  241. — 
Sex  Passion  Essential,  242. — Regulation  of  Marriage,  243. 
— Woman's  Influence,  243. — Rise  in  Standards  of  Family 
Affection,  245. — Ideals  in  Sex  Morality,  246. — The  Per- 
manent Monogamous  Marriage,  247. — Kinship  Ties, 
247. — Maternal  Ignorance,  248. — Family  Ideals,  249.— 


CONTENTS  •  xi' 

PAGE 

Telic  Improvement  in  the  Family,   250. — Changes  in 
Woman's  Status,  251 238 

CHAPTER  XVI 

THE    POLITICAL   INSTITUTION 

Beginnings  of  the  State,  253. — The  State  of  the  Patriarchal 
Period,  254. — The  State  as  a  Matured  Institution,  255. — 
Distinctions  of  Class  and  Caste,  255. — The  Influence  of 
Commerce,  256. — Commerce  is  Favorable  to  Democracy, 
258. — Growth  of  the  Powers  of  the  State,  258. — The 
Class  Struggle,  259. — ^Aristocracy  Becoming  Democracy, 
260. — Changes  in  Governmental  Organization,  261. — 
Conditions  Necessary  for  Democracy,  261. — The  Slow 
Elimination  of  War,  263. — Development  of  Democracy, 
264. — Scientific  Legislation,  264 253 

CHAPTER  XVII 

THE   RELIGIOUS   INSTITUTION 

Beginnings  of  Religion,  267. — Higher  Development  of  Re- 
ligion, 269. — Influence  of  Environment,  269. — The 
Priestly  Class,  270. — Evil  of  Rigidity  in  Teachings,  272. — 
The  Church  as  a  Social  Institution,  273. — Separation  of 
Church  and  State,  274. — The  Religious  Institution 
Permanent,  275 267 

CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE    DEVELOPMENT   OF   MORALS 

Three  Stages  in  Customs,  277. — Prohibitive  Stage,  278. — 
Modifications  of  the  Tabu,  279. — Regulations  in  Morals, 
279. — Higher  Standards  of  Morals  Possible,  280. — Differ- 
entiation in  Morals,  281. — Changing  Standards,  282. — 
Group  Standards,  283. — Differing  Codes  of  Morals,  284. 
— Modifications  in  Morals,  285. — Group  Morality,  286. — 
Opposition  of  Public  and  Private  Interests,  287. — Tolera- 
tion in  Morals,  290. — Humanitarian  Ethics,  291. — Mod- 
ern Altruism,  292. — Changing  Bases  of  Morality,  292. — 
Idealism  in  Morals,  295 277 

CHAPTER  XIX 

CULTURAL   DEVELOPMENT 

Basis  of  Cultural  Civilization,  297. — Growth  of  Cultural 
Achievements,  298. — Static  Standards,  300. — Dynamic 
Changes  in  Cultural  Ideals,  300. — The  Leisure  Class,  301. 


xii  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

— A  New  Slavery,  302. — Higher  Education  for  the  Elite 
Only,  303. — The  Receptive  Mind,  303. — Social  Impor- 
tance of  Cultural  Achievement,  305. — The  TeUc  Achieve- 
ment of  Culture,  306. — A  Career  for  Talent,  306. — 
Genetic  Choice,  307. — Latent  Talent  and  Genius,  308. — 
Leisure  and  the  Industries,  309. — The  Real  Classes  in 
Society,  311 297 

CHAPTER  XX 

SOCIAL  GRADATIONS   AND   GENIUS 

The  Average  Man,  313. — Social  Superiority,  314. — Race 
Superiority,  314. — Class  Superiority,  315. — Hereditary 
Classes  ,317 . — Class  Distinctions ,  3 1 9 . — Oppressed  Classes, 
320. — Dreams  of  Equality,  322. — Rise  of  the  Masses, 
323. — Individual  Superiority,  325. — Ancient  Beliefs  Re- 
specting Genius,  326. — The  Genius  Tyrant,  327. — Genius 
Under  Darvk'inism,  328. — The  Nietzschean  Superman, 
329. — Galtonian  Eugenics,  330. — Lombroso's  Abnormal 
Genius,  332. — The  Theory  of  Helvetius,  3S3- — Ward's 
Discussion  of  Genius,  334. — Studj'  of  Genius  is  Becoming 
Scientific,  335. — A  Newer  Democracy,  336      ....     313 

PART  III 

SOCIAL    PROGRESS 

CHAPTER  XXI 

SOCIETY  AND  THE  INDIVIDUAL 
Individualism,  341. — The  Socialized  Individual,  342. — The 
Sociiis,  343. — Social  Control  and  IndividuaUsm,  344, — 
Importance  of  Personality,  345. — Individuality,  347. — 
Individualism  a  Social  Necessity,  348. — Individuality 
through  Education,  349. — Telesis  in  Education,  349. — 
Environing  Conditions,  350. — The  Period  of  Adoles- 
cence, 351. — The  Mental  Processes,  352. — The  Memory, 
354. — Importance  of  Right  Knowledge,  354. — The  Choice 
of  Ends,  355. — Social  Leadership,  356. — Choice  of  Occu- 
pation, 357. — The  Pursuit  of  an  Occupation,  357       .     .     341 

CHAPTER  XXII 

SOCIAL   PROGRESS 
The  Struggle  for  Survival,  359. — Social  Reforms  as  Panaceas, 
361. — The  UtiUty  of  Sociology,  362. — Static  Civiliza- 


CONTENTS  xiii 

PAGE 

tion,  363. — Dynamic  Movements,  365. — Genetic  or  Telic 
Purpose,  366. — Social  Utopias,  367. — The  Social  Goal, 
368. — Social  Change,  369. — Social  Flexibihty,  370. — 
SociaUzation  through  Education,  371. — Social  Activity 
is  Constructive,  372, — Social  Ideals,  373 359 

CHAPTER  XXIII 

THE   ELIMINATION   OF   SOCIAL  EVILS 

Backward  CiviUzation,  375. — Sociology  and  Social  Prob- 
lems, 376. — Early  Conditions  in  the  United  States,  377. — 
Lack  of  Social  Forethought,  378. — The  Problem  of  Im- 
migration, 378. — Economic  Problems,  380. — The  Problem 
of  Education,  380. — Need  of  a  Telic  Policy,  381. — Social 
Hopefulness,  381. — Control  of  Social  Energy,  382. — 
Elimination  of  the  Tabu,  383. — Civilization  is  Construc- 
tive, 384. — Social  Leadership,  385. — Elimination  of 
Social  Weakness,  386. — The  Unity  of  All  Social  Prob- 
lems, 387     375 

CHAPTER  XXIV 

EXPLOITATION  AND   IGNORANCE 

Exploitation,  390. — Natural  Exploitation,  390. — Exploitation 
of  Man,  391. — Exploitation  of  the  Masses,  392. — Re- 
straints on  Exploitation,  393. — Ignorance  Responsible  for 
Exploitation,  394. — The  State  as  an  Exploiter,  395. — 
Social  Parasitism,  396. — Common  Interest  in  the  In- 
dustries, 396. — Ignorance,  397. — Ignorance  in  Ancient 
Times,  397. — Ignorance  a  Social  Handicap,  398. — Social 
Policy  toward  Ignorance,  399. — Social  Education,  400  .     390 

CHAPTER  XXV 

POVERTY,    PAUPERISM,    AND    CRIME 

Poverty  and  Pauperism,  402. — Poverty  and  Natural  Selec- 
tion, 403. — Systems  of  Charity,  404. — Social  Better- 
ment, 405. — Pauperism  Should  be  Abolished,  406. — 
Poverty  Should  be  Lessened,  406. — Crime,  407. — 
Changing  Standards  in  Crime,  408. — Crime  in  its  Devel- 
opment, 409. — Crime  as  "Misdirected  Energy,"  409. — 
Sociological  Remedies  for  Crime,  411. — Conflicting  Moral 
Standards,  412. — Evils  of  Poor  Methods  of  Regulation, 


xiv  CONTENTS 


PAGE 


413. — Reforms  in  Systems  of  Punishment,  414. — Social 
Freedom  from  Crime,  415. — Crime  is  Not  Natural,  416  .     402 

CHAPTER  XXVI 

INTEMPERANCE    AND   SEXUAL  IMMORALITY 

Intemperance,  417. — Prohibition  in  the  United  States,  418. — 
Other  Policies  in  Use,  418. — Influence  of  Right  Education, 
420. — Habits  of  Social  Drinking,  421. — Psychological 
Aspect,  422. — Physiological  Causes,  423. — Social  Pol- 
icies Important,  424. — Regulation  of  Drunkenness,  426. — 
Narcotics,  426. — Sex  Immorality,  428. — The  Social  Prob- 
lem of  Sexuality,  429. — The  Sex  Problem  a  Complex 
One,  430. — The  Racial  Aspect,  430. — Evils  from  Celibacy, 
431. — Society  and  Marriage,  432. — Changes  Needed  in 
Social  Policy,  433. — Effects  of  Economic  Conditions, 
435. — Responsibilities  of  Medical  Science,  435. — Women's 
Influence,  436. — The  Marriage  Relation,  438. — The  Dis- 
tinctions of  Sex,  439 41.'' 

CHAPTER  XXVII 

RACIAL  FACTORS   IN   SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

Human  Origins,  441. — Racial  Differences,  441. — The  Rela- 
tion of  the  Superior  to  the  Inferior,  444. — The  Influence 
of  IMissions,  445. — Racial  Competition,  446. — Human 
Amalgamation,  447. — Racial  Survival,  448. — Evils  in 
Amalgamation,  449. — ^American  Racial  Problems,  450. — 
Eugenics,  453. — Social  Safeguards,  454. — Endemics,  455. 
— Euthenics,  456 44i 

CHAPTER  XXVIII 

ECONOMIC   FACTORS  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

Influence  of  Physical  Environment,  459.— Man's  Power 
over  Nature,  460. — Possibilities  of  Later  Modifications, 
462. — Modifications  through  the  State,  464. — Regula- 
tion of  Economic  Interests,  464. — Government  as  an 
Umpire  in  Disputes,  466. — Improvement  in  Govern- 
ment, 467. — Economic  Achievement,  468. — Changes  in 
Economic  Institutions,  470. — Illustrations  of  Economic 
Regulation,  471.— Science  Should  be  Furthered,  472.— 


CONTENTS  XV 

PAGE 

Education  for  Economic  Life,  473. — The  State's  Share 

in  this  Education,  473 459 

CHAPTER  XXIX 

EDUCATIONAL  FACTORS   IN   SOCIAL   PROGRESS 

The  Purpose  of  PubUc  Education,  476. — Social  Education, 
478. — Supposed  Antagonism  of  UtiUty  and  Culture,  479. 
— ^Rise  of  Cultvu"al  Ideals,  481. — The  Errors  of  Past  Civi- 
lization, 481. — Social  Value  of  the  Ideas  of  Culture,  482. — 
Agencies  for  Education,  483. — Scientific  Knowledge,  484. 
— ^TeUc  Multiplication  of  Achievement,  485. — Group 
Achievement,  487. — Achievement  through  the  State, 
487. — Class  or  General  Education,  488. — Social  Im- 
portance of  the  Democratic  Ideal,  489 476 

CHAPTER  XXX 

SUMMARY   AND    CONCLUSIONS 

The  Beginnings  of  Sociology,  491. — Later  Developments, 
492. — Theories  of  Superiority,  493. — Instruction  in  Soci- 
ology, 493. — Social  Progress  Not  Inevitable,  494. — Im- 
portance of  Physical  Environment,  495. — Necessity  of 
Food  Supplies,  496.— Need  of  Racial  Vigor,  497.— Men- 
tality of  the  Race,  498.— Social  Institutions  Should  be 
Flexible,  498. — Spiritual  Aspect  of  National  Life,  499. — 
The  Religious  Institution,  500. — A  Religious  Element  in 
Sociology,  501. — Sociological  IdeaUsm,  502     ....     491 

Bibliography 505 

Index 527 


PART  I 
S'^^IOLOGY  AND  ITS  KINDRED  SCIENCES 


SOCIOLOGY 

ITS    DEVELOPMENT 
AND  APPLICATIONS 


CHAPTER  I 

SOCIETY 

The  Field  of  Social  Science. — Society,  social,  asso- 
ciation, sociology,  socialism — these  and  numerous  other 
kindred  words  in  common  use  show  their  relationship  to 
the  Latin  word  socius,  the  root  meaning  of  which  involves 
the  notion  of  companionship  or  fellowship.  This  may  be 
interpreted  strictly,  as  to  imply  a  real  intimacy  of  re- 
lationship, or  loosely,  as  to  suggest  merely  contiguity  or 
casual  intercourse.  In  the  same  manner  the  word  "so- 
ciety" may  denote  a  union  of  persons  closely  knit  to- 
gether in  sympathy  and  interests,  or,  on  the  other  hand, 
a  conventional  grouping  of  human  beings  considered  as 
a  unit  because  of  some  assumed  generic  connection.  In 
this  latter  sense  all  mankind  may  be  considered  as  a  so- 
ciety, since  presumably  all  races  have  a  common  ancestry, 
a  common  type  of  physical  body,  and,  in  general,  the 
same  physical  needs  and  the  same  fundamental  psychic 
activities.  In  other  words,  they  have  a  common  human 
nature. 


2  SOCIOLOGY 

From  this  assumption  it  would  be  natural  to  argue 
that  under  similar  conditions  human  beings  would  act  in 
much  the  same  way  and  would  develop  the  same  sort  of 
social  institutions.  Of  course,  conditions  rarely,  if  ever, 
are  quite  the  same,  and  consequently  there  must  be  real 
variations  in  human  experience ;  yet  notwithstanding  these 
variations,  there  are  approximations  to  similarity  of  con- 
ditions sufficiently  close  to  enable  the  observation  of  re- 
semblances and  differences.  This  being  the  case,  it  is 
possible  to  consider  society  comprehensively,  and  to  speak 
in  a  somewhat  loose  and  general  fashion  of  the  stages  of 
social  evolution,  the  development  of  social  institutions, 
and  the  laws  of  social  progress,  applying  these  notions 
to  all  mankind,  past  or  present,  irrespective  of  race  or 
degree  of  civilization.  Such  studies,  when  made,  are 
naturally  grouped  together  under  a  common  heading  as 
Social  Science  or  Sociology. 

Early  Theories  of  Social  Development. — It  was 
common  enough  in  the  social  science  of  the  older,  more 
idealistic  sort,  like  that  of  Condorcet,  for  example,  to 
assume  the  unity  of  all  mankind  and  to  generalize  rather 
loosely  in  respect  to  humanity  as  a  whole.  Hence  there 
came  histories  of  civilization,  philosophies  of  world  his- 
tory, and  sweeping  generalizations  which  were  thought 
to  apply  indiscriminately  to  all  races  at  all  times  and  un- 
der widely  varying  conditions  of  environment.  This 
attitude  was  largely  due  to  the  emphasis  placed  by  the 
Eighteenth  Century  on  environment  and  the  consequent 
lack  of  an  appreciation  of  the  importance  of  heredity.  In 
the  Nineteenth  Century,  however,  theories  of  social  de- 
velopment became  much  more  scientific  through  closer 
observation  and  the  rise  of  newer  sciences,  so  that  charm- 
ing generalizations  about  Humanity  in  general  are  not 


SOCIETY  3 

favored  except  in  Utopian  literature.  Still  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  some  of  the  many  attempts  to  set  forth  a 
comprehensive  survey  of  human  development  are  histori- 
cally important,  and  a  brief  statement  of  these  may  prove 
helpful.     ' 

Hcsiod's.  Four  Ages. — Ancient  social  philosophizing 
had  teachings  in  respect  to  social  evolution  and  usually 
assumed  a  gradual  descent  from  a  perfect  age  to  the  de- 
generate days  in  which  the  philosopher  lived.  This  is 
most  familiar  to  us  in  the  tradition  of  the  "fall  of  man" 
contained  in  the  book  of  Genesis  and  elaborated  in  Mil- 
ton's Paradise  Lost.  Hesiod  (about  the  Eighth  Century 
B.C.)  in  his  Works  and  Days  gives  us  the  familiar  classic 
description  of  the  four  ages  of  man : 

First  was  a  golden  race  of  men,  that  with  language  are 
gifted, 

Made  by  the  gods  immortal,  who  hold  the  Olympian  dwell- 
ings. 

They  were  in  Kronos'  time,  when  he  was  the  ruler  of 
Heaven. 

Like  to  the  gods  they  lived,  and  possessed  their  spirit  un- 
troubled, 

Wholly  exempt  from  toil  and  misery.^ 

Then  followed  in  order  descriptions  of  the  ages  of 
silver,  bronze,  and  iron,  though  between  the  third  and 
the  fourth  he  inserted  the  Age  of  Heroes,  the  heroes  of 
Thebes  and  Troy,  in  recognition  of  Hellenic  greatness  as 
narrated  in  Homeric  epic  and  story.  These  four  ages 
typified  by  the  metals  are  most  familiar  to  us  through 
Ovid,  who  lived  in  the  time  of  the  Emperor  Augustus, 
and  who  in  his  Metamorphoses  (Book  I)  described  them 

^  See  W.  C.  Lawton,  The  Successors  of  Homer,  p.  57. 


4  SOCIOLOGY 

along  with  the  story  of  the  flood  sent  by  the  gods  because 
of  human  wickedness. 

The  Cycle  Theory. — The  famihar  "cycle"  theory  of 
development  is  best  given  by  Plato,  Aristotle,  and  Polyb- 
ius  in  discussing  the  various  forms  of  government, 
Plato  In  his  Republic,  when  seeking  to  find  Justice  "writ 
large,"  finds  it  best  in  a  society  organized  under  the  con- 
trol of  an  aristocracy,  the  rule  of  the  wisest  and  best; 
society  then  in  descending  order  degenerates  into  types 
hospitable  to  timocracy,  oligarchy,  democracy,  and  despo- 
tism, and  characterized,  respectively,  by  ambition,  greed, 
demagogism,  and  tyranny.  This  is  the  natural  cycle  of 
human  evolution,  for  in  the  last  stage  there  comes  a  re- 
vulsion against  the  tyranny  of  despotism  and  a  return 
to  an  aristocracy,  from  which  again  degeneration  takes 
place,  and  men  descend  once  more  through  the  cycle. 

The  four  stages  of  Ovid,  the  cycle  theory,  and  the 
Hebraic  "fall  of  man"  remained  as  the  dominant  the- 
ories of  human  development  down  to  modern  times, 
though  there  were  other  theories,  like  that,  for  example, 
in  which  society  is  compared  to  a  human  body  having 
stages  of  infancy,  maturity,  and  senility,  or  like  the  teach- 
ing in  St.  Augustine's  Civitas  Dei  that  God  is  in  human 
history,  guiding  it  from  immaturity  to  the  perfection  of  a 
heavenly  State.  In  the  philosophizing  of  France  in  the 
Eighteenth  and  in  the  first  half  of  the  Nineteenth  Cen- 
turies, however,  historical  stages  of  a  social  sort  began  to 
be  emphasized,  culminating  in  the  ten  epochs  of  Con- 
dorcet  and  the  three  stages  of  Comte. 

The  Ten  Epochs  of  Condorcet. — Condorcet^  in 
his  Historical   Vietv   of  the  Human  Mind,   sought   to 

*  He  committed  suicide  1794  to  avoid  execution  at  the  guillotine. 
'This  work,  written  shortly  before  his  death,  was  printed 
posthumously. 


SOCIETY  5 

show  that  man  in  his  history  had  gone  through  nine  well 
defined  epochs  of  civilization  and  was  about  to  enter  the 
tenth  and  final  epoch.  He  depicts  the  early  stage  as  made 
up  of  wandering  hordes  grouped  into  families  and  having 
a  rude  form  of  government,  subsisting  by  hunting  and 
fishing  and  having  the  beginnings  of  language,  arts  and 
morals.  From  this  early  stage  he  represents  man  as  pass- 
ing into  pastoral  and  agricultural  stages,  followed  by  in- 
dustries and  commerce.  He  then  traces  the  rise  of  phil- 
osophy and  science,  the  decline  of  the  latter  in  medieval- 
ism, its  revival  and  rapid  growth  after  the  discovery  of 
the  art  of  printing  and  the  broadening  of  men's  ideas  in 
the  Eighteenth  Century,  culminating  in  the  French  Revo- 
lution. In  his  tenth  epoch  he  sought  to  show,  in  antici- 
pation, the  glorious  future  lying  before  men,  basing  his 
argument  on  his  belief  that  man  was  capable  of  unlimited 
perfectibility  (within  cosmic  limitation)  and  asserting 
that  society  should  seek  to  become  free,  equal,  and  happy, 
through  modification  of  environment  and  education.  It  is 
interesting  to  note  in  this  chapter  his  suggestion  that  prog- 
ress would  become  much  more  rapid  in  the  future  because 
of  the  inheritance  of  qualities  acquired  by  parents  through 
education,  the  later  Lamarckian  theory  of  acquired  char- 
acters. 

Comte*s  Three  Stages. — Comte,  in  his  Positive  Phil- 
osophy, following  a  suggestion  of  Turgot  and  to  some 
extent  the  teachings  of  Condorcet  and  Saint  Simon, 
worked  out  a  theory  of  social  development  in  his  famous 
discussion  of  the  three  stages  of  the  development  of  the 
human  intellect,  which,  he  argued,  in  satisfying  its  in- 
herent need  for  the  explanation  of  phenomena,  passes  his- 
torically through  ( I )  the  "theological"  or  anthropomor- 
phical stage,  in  which  the  human  mind  assumes  that 


6  SOCIOLOGY 

supernatural  beings,  like  man  himself  but  more  powerful, 
are  the  causes  of  phenomena;  (2)  the  transitional  "meta- 
physical" stage,  which  assumes  the  existence  of  universal 
abstract  principles,  like  the  abstract  justice  or  universal 
reason  of  the  Stoics,  or  the  cosmic  ether  of  scientific  hy- 
pothesis, for  example,  as  explanatory  of  phenomena ;  and 
(3)  the  "positive"  or  scientific  stage,  in  which  explana- 
tions are  sought  by  the  methods  of  science  only,  namely, 
observation,  comparison,  experimentation.  These  three 
stages  are  then  worked  out  with  a  wealth  of  detail  in  his 
Social  Dynamics,  devoted  to  the  laws  of  human  progress, 
and  occupying  about  one-third  of  Positive  Philosophy.  Of 
this  discussion  John  Stuart  Mill  ^  said :  "There  is  scarcely 
a  sentence  that  does  not  add  an  idea.  We  regard  it  as  by 
far  his  greatest  achievement,  except  his  review  of  the 
sciences,  and  in  some  respects  more  striking  even  than 
that.  We  wish  it  were  practicable  ...  to  give  even  a 
faint  conception  of  the  extraordinary  merits  of  this  his- 
torical analysis.     It  must  be  read  to  be  appreciated." 

Five  Other  Theories  of  Development. — The  rise  of 
the  Darwinian  theory  of  natural  selection  and  Spencer's 
evolutionary  teaching,  including  his  study  of  the  develop- 
ment of  social  institutions,  gave  a  new  trend  to  discussions 
of  human  evolution.  Five  of  these  will  be  briefly  men- 
tioned in  the  following  paragraphs  as  typical  of  the  tend- 
encies of  modern  thought. 

( I )  Spencer  himself  stressed  the  point  that  society, 
starting  from  the  loose  groupings  of  primitive  savagery, 
evolved  into  a  militaristic  form  of  social  organization,  then 
into  a  transitional  militaristic-industrial  type,  and  finally 
will  pass  into  an  industrial  stage.  Each  of  these  two  fun- 
damental types  molds  social  institutions  into  its  own  pat- 

*  Auguste  Comte  and  Positivism,  p.  106  (Routledge  edition.) 


SOCIETY  7 

tern;  the  one  stem,  hierarchical,  autocratic;  the  other, 
sympathetic,  democratic,  cooperative  in  spirit,  becoming 
humanitarian  and  cosmopoHtan  . 

(2)  Gumplowicz  in  his  Outlines  of  Sociology  *  (Part 
V)  is  agnostic  in  respect  to  the  theory  of  a  continuous 
human  evolution  and  teaches  a  sort  of  cycle  theory  of 
progress  and  an  evolution,  not  for  humanity  as  a  whole, 
but  of  selected  groups  or  races.  These,  when  condi- 
tions are  favorable,  make  progress,  attain  a  maximum, 
and  then  die  of  dry  rot  through  loss  of  energy,  or  are 
overpowered  by  more  vigorous  barbarian  races  or  by 
anarchical  elements  within  their  own  body.  He  does  not, 
therefore,  look  for  a  human  evolution  so  much  as  for  the 
"rise  and  fall  of  nations." 

(3)  An  excellent  illustration  of  how  social  develop- 
ment may  be  traced  from  an  economic  viewpoint  may  be 
found  in  Karl  Biicher's  Industrial  Evolution.  In  his  first 
four  chapters  he  explains  in  a  most  interesting  fashion 
the  prominent  aspects  of  economic  conditions  in  primi- 
tive tropical  life,  and  then  shows  the  development  of  eco- 
nomic stages  based,  respectively,  on  the  differentiating 
labors  of  the  household,  the  village  or  city,  and  on  the 
nation.  In  the  later  chapters  he  shows  the  effects  of  these 
various  systems  of  labor  in  the  formation  of  social  classes 
and  the  distribution  of  population.  The  work  as  a  whole 
indicates  the  methods  of  study  that  should  be  employed 
in  respect  to  social  institutions,  so  as  to  formulate  data 
for  later  sociological  study. 

(4)  Professor  Patten  in  his  Theory  of  Social  Forces 
struck  out  on  a  different  line  of  eyolutionary  discussion 
by  taking  as  his  basis  the  ancient  discussion  of  the  in- 
fluence of  pain  and  pleasure  on  human  activities  and  ar- 

* Grundriss  der  Sociologie,  Annals  translation  (see  Bibliography). 


8  SOCIOLOGY 

guing  that  human  evolution  is  characterized  first  by  a 
pain  and  then  by  a  pleasure  economy.  A  pain  economy  is 
a  society  whose  "institutions  have  as  their  basis  the  fear 
of  enemies  and  pain."  The  gist  of  his  idea  is  continued  in 
the  following  quotation: 

The  causes  of  a  pain  economy  lie  in  the  environment. 
Vigorous  enemies  deal  out  death  and  destruction  so  freely 
that  the  thought  of  isolated  individuals  is  concentrated  on 
the  causes  and  remedies  for  pain.  The  development  of  hu- 
man society  has  gradually  eliminated  from  the  environment 
the  sources  of  pain.  The  civilized  world  has  been  freed 
from  dangerous  beasts  and  reptiles,  and  the  growth  of  large 
nations  has  cut  off  the  danger  of  invasion  by  barbarous  and 
warlike  human  foes.  .  .  .  These  changes  make  a  pleasure 
economy  possible  and  destroy  the  conditions  which  made  the 
subjective  environment  of  the  old  pain  economy  a  necessity. 

It  is  not,  however,  to  be  assumed  that  the  transition  to  a 
pleasure  economy  is  an  easy  one.  On  the  contrary,  it  is 
a  most  difficult  process  and  one  fraught  with  many  evils 
and  dangers.  So  many  of  the  fundamental  ideas,  ideals, 
and  impulses  of  the  race  lose  their  efficiency  through  the 
change  that  mankind  seems  almost  without  a  rudder  to  guide 
it  through  its  new  difficulties.  Historical  evidence  would 
seem  to  prove  that  a  pure  pleasure  economy  is  an  impossi- 
bility. Nation  after  nation  has  gone  down  when  utilities 
instead  of  pains  have  become  the  supreme  object  of  inter- 
est. Individuals  as  well  as  nations  show  the  deteriorating 
influence  of  pleasure  as  soon  as  they  are  freed  from  the  re- 
straints of  a  pain  economy.  This  tendency  to  deterioration, 
however,  is  an  evil  that  belongs  only  to  the  period  of  transi- 
tion. .    .   . 

In  those  regions  where  a  pleasure  economy  is  possible  na- 
tion after  nation  has  risen  and  fallen,  without  ever  develop- 
ing sufficient  strength  to  resist  the  encroachments  of  ene- 
mies disciplined  by  a  pain  economy.  A  pleasure  economy 
cannot  be  formed  by  any  kind  of  a  revolutionary  process. 
There  must  be  a  long  period  of  transition  in  which  the  lead- 


SOCIETY  9 

Ing  elements  of  the  old  economy  are  gradually  lost  and  in 
their  places  the  ideas,  ideals,  and  impulses  of  a  pleasure 
economy  are  substituted.  The  development  of  modern  na- 
tions has  been  along  this  path.  Without  a  conscious  de- 
parture from  the  old  ideals  of  state,  morality,  and  religion, 
there  has  been  a  gradual  substitution  of  certain  ideals  and 
impulses  of  a  pleasure  economy,  until  now  all  of  our  lead- 
ing concepts  are  held  in  a  dual  form.  One  group  of  ideals 
and  impulses  is  the  conservator  of  past  conditions,  while 
blended  with  them  is  another  group  of  ideals  and  impulses 
which  is  the  outcome  of  the  new  conditions.  Such  a  state 
of  affairs  cannot  but  be  the  cause  of  much  confusion  and 
distress.  The  only  hope  of  progress  lies  in  separating  the 
present  aggregate  of  forces  into  their  elements  and  in  finding 
to  which  group  each  ideal  and  impulse  really  belongs. 

(5)  As  a  final  illustration,  Professor  Giddings  in  his 
Principles  of  Sociology  gives  in  Book  III,  under  the  title 
"The  Historical  Evolution  of  Society,"  an  anthropologi- 
cal series  of  stages  in  which  human  association  is  traced 
as  zoogenic,  anthropogenic,  ethnogenic  and  demogenic. 
This  last  stage,  the  stage  of  civilization,  he  subdivides  into 
three  other  stages,  namely,  the  military-religious,  the  lib- 
eral-legal, and  the  economic-ethical,  terms  obviously  de- 
scriptive of  the  ages  to  which  they  apply. 

Other  Classifications  of  Development. — These 
stages  of  association  as  presented  by  Professor  Giddings 
show  definitely  the  influence  of  the  rise  of  the  many  sci- 
ences loosely  grouped  under  the  title  of  "anthropolog}'" 
and  devoted  to  the  study  of  primitive  man  and  earlier 
civilizations.  These  newer  sciences  have  furnished  many 
bases  for  classifications  of  evolutionary  stages,  each  char- 
acterized by  some  particular  social  attainment,  either  ma- 
terial or  intellectual.  Attention  may,  for  instance,  be  di- 
rected to  the  substance  used  in  the  making  of  tools.    The 


10  SOCIOLOGY 

earliest  human  beings  who  became  "tool-using  animals" 
presumably  used  sticks  and  roots  or  branches  of  trees  as 
primitive  hammers  and  weapons.  At  a  later  period  pieces 
of  heavy  stone  were  fastened  to  wood,  either  by  thongs 
or  by  insertion.  Still  later  these  stones  were  polished  so 
as  to  give  a  better  cutting  edge  and  a  more  ornamental 
appearance.  Then  came  the  age  of  bronze  or  copper,  in 
which  were  used  soft  metals  that  could  be  beaten  into 
shape  while  in  their  natural  state.  In  the  last  stages  of 
early  civilization,  when  the  use  of  fire  was  understood, 
hard  metals,  such  as  iron,  came  into  use  through  smelting, 
and  civilization  was  then  ready  for  the  massive  machinery 
of  modern  times,  whose  introduction  depended  on  scien- 
tific knowledge  as  to  the  utilization  of  the  powers  of 
steam  and  electricity. 

Other  writers  prefer  to  trace  civilization  by  noting  the 
chief  sources  of  food  supplies  for  human  beings.  At  first 
natural  foods  which  could  be  obtained  by  man  without 
tools  or  weapons  were  consumed.  Then  came,  in  addi- 
tion, food  supplies  from  hunting  and  fishing.  Still  later, 
through  the  domestication  of  animals,  came  permanent 
supplies  of  flesh  foods,  and  then  agriculture  made  its  im- 
portant contribution  toward  the  sustentation  of  the  human 
race. 

Some  prefer  to  emphasize  the  development  of  the  chief 
forms  of  occupation,  such  as  the  wild  and  precarious  life 
of  the  hunter,  the  care  of  flocks  and  herds,  the  pursuit  of 
agriculture,  and  finally,  the  occupations  involved  in  the 
trades,  in  commerce,  manufacturing,  and  professional  pur- 
suits. Others  fix  their  attention  on  the  evolution  of  the 
notion  of  property  in  land  and  personal  possessions  and 
discuss  three  stages  :  ( i)  that  in  which  the  notion  of  the 
ownership  of  land  and  other  forms  of  property  was  un- 


SOCIETY  II 

known;  (2)  that  in  which  land  and  other  property'^  were 
considered  as  held  or  owned  by  the  community  as  a  whole ; 
and  (3)  that  in  which  land  and  other  property  are  con- 
sidered to  be  the  personal  possessions  of  individuals. 

Still  other  writers  prefer  to  trace  civilization  through 
the  varying  forms  of  the  family  and  indicate  a  threefold 
development :  ( i )  a  matriarchal  ^  stage,  characterized 
fundamentally  by  kinship  traced  through  the  mother,  and 
the  absence  of  permanency  in  family  life;  (2)  a  patriar- 
chal stage  in  which  kinship  is  traced  through  the  male,  and 
the  power  of  the  paternal  head  of  the  family  tends  to  be- 
come absolute;  (3)  the  modern  stage  in  which  kinship  is 
traced  through  both  parents  and  emphasis  is  placed  on  a 
permanent  marriage  relationship  between  one  man  and 
one  woman. 

Finally,  some  writers  would  trace  civilization  by  a  study 
of  the  development  of  religion  through  its  historic  stages, 
such  as  animism,  ancestor  and  nature  worship,  polythe- 
ism, pantheism,  and  monotheism.  Others,  again,  may 
trace  it  in  the  several  stages  of  morality,  starting  from 
primitive  notions  of  utility  and  its  opposite,  as  shown  in 
the  customs  of  savages,  and  leading  on  to  theories  of  ab- 
stract morality  such  as  those  taught  by  philosophers  and 
theologians. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  enumerate  other  explanations 
of  development  set  forth  by  sociological  writers.  The 
very  fact  that  the  progress  of  civilization  can  be  indicated 
under  so  many  aspects  shows  that  these  are  but  special- 
ized phases  of  one  great  movement  of  a  unified  social  life, 
manifesting  itself  under  many  different  forms,  but  all 

*  Except  such  personal  possessions  as  weapons,  tools,  ornaments, 
and  clothing. 
'  Metronymic  is  the  better  term,  but  the  other  is  more  familiar 
by  usage. 


12  SOCIOLOGY 

alike  teaching  that  mankind  is  rising  from  primitive  sav- 
agery to  higher  and  more  ethical,  more  intellectual  stages 
of  development.  Evidently,  therefore,  even  the  most  ad- 
vanced peoples  have  not  yet  attained  the  highest  possible 
development.  Even  the  best  of  them  are  low  and  savage 
when  compared  with  the  ideals  of  social  perfection 
taught  by  the  noblest  representatives  of  humanity  in  ages 
past  and  present.  Further  development  is  still  possible, 
and  every  wise  utilization  of  the  materials  and  forces  of 
nature  and  every  upward  step  in  intellectual  and  moral 
attainment  will  aid  in  the  furtherance  of  social  progress. 
Society  and  the  Social  Group. — In  these  illustrations 
of  discussions  respecting  society,  it  is  clear  that  the  term 
is  vague  and  has  no  definite,  precise  meaning,  varying 
from  a  notion  of  humanity  as  a  whole  to  particular  as- 
pects of  social  life.  It  is  usual,  therefore,  in  these  days, 
to  use  the  word  in  a  very  conventional  sense  and  to  sub- 
stitute for  it,  whenever  possible,  more  exact  terms,  such 
as  the  "social  group"  or  "human  association,"  emphasizing 
as  the  gist  of  the  whole  matter  a  grouping  of  individuals 
or  a  compounding  of  groups  in  mental  contact  one  with 
another.  The  members  of  such  groupings  are  not  neces- 
sarily in  bodily  contact.  The  stress  is  on  the  interaction 
of  mind  and  mind,  whether  this  contact  is  through  the 
spoken  word  or  the  printed  page  or  even  in  mental  inter- 
course through  the  comprehension  of  emotional  gesture 
or  facial  expression.  Social  groupings,  therefore,  are 
transient  or  permanent,  they  may  in  theory  include  all 
mankind  past,  present,  and  future,  or  by  contrast  the  fleet- 
ing contact  of  desultory  conversation,  a  passing  glance, 
or  the  chance  reading  of  some  pregnant  thought.  When- 
ever human  mind  associates  with  mind,  there  is  society 


SOCIETY  13 

and  an  opportunity  for  the  study  of  the  processes  of  hu- 
man association. 

If,  therefore,  an  attempt  should  be  made  to  formulate 
a  science  of  society,  evidently  the  science  itself  will  oscil- 
late from  vague  generalizations  and  diffused  sentimental- 
ity on  the  one  hand  to  more  exact  and  precise  discussions 
on  the  other,  according  as  attention  is  given  to  the  general 
term  society  or  the  more  definite  notion  of  the  associating 
group.  This  wide  divergence  will  be  noted  in  the  ex- 
planations of  the  following  chapters.  A  general  survey 
of  social  science  naturally  should  take  into  account  all 
aspects  of  such  studies,  but  should  emphasize  the  more 
modern  trend.  From  all  such  studies  are  slowly  forming 
the  social  sciences,  a  "sociology,"  and  specialized  social 
studies  of  many  varied  aspects. 


CHAPTER  II 

WHAT  IS  SOCIAL  SCIENCE? 

Social  Terminology. — There  is  in  popular  usage  often 
a  real  confusion  as  to  the  proper  meaning  to  be  given  such 
terms  as  "socialism,"  "sociology,"  "social  economics," 
"social  science,"  and  the  many  other  words  that  name  the 
various  forms  of  social  isms.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  these 
terms  in  origin  had  quite  different  meanings  although 
they  are  at  times  used  as  if  they  were  synonyms.  The 
word  "socialism"  came  into  use  about  eighty  years  ago  to 
connote  a  scheme  of  social  reforms  advocated  by  the  fol- 
lowers of  Robert  Owen.  Auguste  Comte  coined  the 
word  "sociologie"  about  the  same  time  (1838),  using  it 
to  denote  the  study  of  the  fundamental  laws  underlying 
social  phenomena.  John  Stuart  Mill,  an  economist,  but 
deeply  imbued  with  the  views  of  social  reform  set  forth 
by  Bentham,  Owen,  and  Comte,  sought  to  humanize  the 
"dismal  science"  of  his  day  by  stressing  the  social  aspects 
of  it  as  "social  economy"  or  "social  economics."  The 
term  "social  science"  came  into  use  as  a  generic  term,  like 
the  adjective  "social,"  covering  all  aspects  of  social  study, 
including,  therefore,  the  many  kinds  of  social  reforms, 
social  philosophizing,  and  sociology. 

At  present  the  word  "socialism,"  though  often  loosely 
used  as  a  generic  term  for  any  rather  radical  aspect  of 
social  reform,  is  usually  employed  in  a  Marxian  sense, 
implying  the  "class  struggle"  and  the  national  ownership 

14 


WHAT  IS  SOCIAL  SCIENCE?  15 

of  wealth  and  means  of  production.  The  science  of  eco- 
nomics has  become  so  "social"  that  the  terms  "social  econ- 
omy" and  "social  economics"  are  now  .eldom  employed. 
The  word  "sociology"  is  still  properly  used  in  the  Com- 
tean  sense,  though  often  incorrectly  employed  as  synony- 
mous with  social  reforms,  and  the  term  "social  science," 
although  less  frequently  used  than  formerly,  still  retains 
its  generic  meaning. 

There  are  kindred  terms  of  changing  meaning  often 
employed  in  discussion,  such  as  anarchism,  individualism, 
communism,  syndicalism,  guild  socialism,  and  bolshevism. 
Afiarchism  assumes  the  inherent  goodness  of  man,  who 
voluntarily  associates  himself  with  his  fellows,  forming 
cooperative  organizations  from  which  all  compulsory 
forms  of  control  are  eliminated.  If  an  anarchist  favors 
violent  methods  for  the  removal  of  governments  using 
compulsion,  he  becomes  a  terrorist  or  an  anarchist  of  the 
deed.  Individtialism,  like  that  of  England  in  the  Nine- 
teenth Century,  assumes  that  that  government  is  best 
which  governs  least,  since  men  should  be  free  to  enjoy 
liberty  without  much  interference  from  government, 
which  is  considered  to  be  a  necessary  evil.  Communism 
emphasizes  the  voluntary  cooperation  of  self-sufficing 
groups,  organized  so  as  to  carry  out  some  ideal  of  social 
perfection.  Communism,  therefore,  tends  to  stress  a  care- 
ful regulation  of  the  detail  of  social  life  such  as  dress, 
foods,  housing,  marriage,  and  vocations,  and  thus  may 
tend  to  repress  individuality.  Such  groupings,  therefore, 
are  not  necessarily  democratic  but  may  be  strongly  hier- 
archical in  their  methods  of  control. 

Syndicalism,  like  anarchism,  aims  to  abolish  the  State, 
which,  in  its  opinion,  is  the  agent  of  capitalism,  and 
would  reorganize  society  on  the  basis  of  occupations.  Each 


l6  SOCIOLOGY 

vocation  in  a  given  country  would  be  organized,  would 
control  its  own  means  of  production,  and  would  manage 
its  business  without  interference.  The  attainment  of 
such  a  system  may  be  brought  about  peaceably,  but  vio- 
lent methods,  if  necessary,  are  permissible.  In  the  United 
States  of  America  syndicalism  goes  by  the  name  of  the 
Industrial  Workers  of  the  World. 

In  Great  Britain  guild  socialism  is  the  substitute  for 
syndicalism,  which  is  French  in  origin.  The  State  is  re- 
tained as  the  final  owner  of  the  means  of  production, 
but  these  in  fact  are  held  in  trust  by  each  guild  or  combi- 
nation of  workers  in  any  given  vocation.  The  guild  thus 
controls  its  own  means  of  production;  is  its  own  em- 
ployer; fixes  wages,  hours,  and  conditions  of  labor;  and 
furnishes  its  own  vocational  and  technical  training.  The 
guilds  combined  make  a  sort  of  federation  controlling 
economic  life  and  would  pay  rent  to  the  State  in  lieu  of 
taxes.  The  function  of  the  State  would  be  to  serve  as  a 
sort  of  umpiring,  regulative  organization,  and  it  would 
also  be  authorized  to  carry  on  the  functions  of  culture, 
such  as  justice,  education,  art,  and  also  international  re- 
lations. Conceivably  other  vocations,  such  as  farming 
or  the  professions,  might  organize  as  guilds,  each  regulat- 
ing the  conditions  of  its  own  vocation.  All  guilds  com- 
bined make  a  sort  of  federation,  an  e  plurihus  unum. 

Syndicalism  and  guild  socialism,  it  will  be  noted,  voice 
a  new  sort  of  individualism,  the  individualism  of  corpor- 
ate groups,  each  claiming  for  itself  "life,  liberty,  and  thfe 
pursuit  of  happiness,"  regulated  only  by  such  government 
as  they  would  themselves  expressly  ordain  and  estab- 
lish. 

Bolshevism,  by  contrast,  is  Marxian  socialism  of  a 
rather  radical  sort,  emphasizing  the  class  struggle,  the 


WHAT  IS  SOCIAL  SCIENCE?  17 

overthrow  of  capitalism  by  revolution  and  the  supremacy 
of  the  proletariat.  In  Russia  by  force  of  circumstances  it 
created  a  form  of  government  compounded  of  autocratic  ^ 
and  communal-  elements,  and  established  it  by  the  usual 
terroristic  methods  of  violent  revolution. 

Although  these  numerous  terms  are  comparatively  re- 
cent in  origin  it  would  be  a  mistake  to  assume  that  the 
studies  they  represent  were  unknown  before  the  Nine- 
teenth Century.  The  rise  of  a  new  vocabulary  in  any 
branch  of  knowledge  merely  indicates  that  more  attention 
is  being  given  to  its  problems  and  that  new  terms  are  em- 
ployed so  as  to  give  more  exact  shades  of  meaning.  Pre- 
vious to  1820  social  discussions  would  usually  be  classi- 
fied under  such  headings  as  "humanitarian,"  "moral," 
"political"  or  "religious,"  or  they  would  be  included  in 
some  comprehensive  study,  corresponding  somewhat  to 
what  later  was  called  the  "philosophy  of  history."  The 
well-known  saying  of  Aristotle,  for  example,  "man  is  by 
nature  political,"  ^  would  to-day  be  more  correctly  trans- 
lated "man  is  by  nature  social,"  for  Aristotle  in  his  Poli- 
tics discusses  family  relationship,  economics,  education, 
and  sanitation,  as  well  as  politics  proper.  In  the  same 
manner  Plato's  Republic  and  Laws,  plainly  political  by 
title,  are  really  sociological  discussions  covering  the  whole 
field  of  social  life.  Similar  illustrations  may  be  found 
in  the  works,  for  example,  of  such  writers  as  Hobbes, 
Descartes,  or  Montesquieu  and  the  French  Encyclo- 
paedists. 

Social  Thinking  in  the  Earlier  Ages. — Doubtless 
when  primitive  man  first  began  to  think  at  all  outside  of 


*  The  Council  of  People's  Commissioners. 

*  The  Soviets  of  workers,  peasants,  and  soldiers. 

*  "Politics,"  I,  2, 


i8  SOCIOLOGY 

the  daily  routine  of  food-getting  his  thoughts  must  have 
turned  periodically  to  the  social  problems  of  life  in  re- 
spect to  mating,  warring,  hunting,  and  recreation,  and 
to  vague  philosophizing  about  his  relations  to  the  many 
supernatural  beings  that  seemed  to  environ  him  through- 
out his  life. 

Naturally  no  record  has  come  down  to  us  of  the 
thoughts  of  primitive  man,  except  as  we  find  these  em- 
bodied in  his  stereotyped  institutions,  his  customs,  and  his 
traditions.  These,  however,  furnish  abundant  oppor- 
tunity for  social  studies  of  all  sorts  and  splendid  work  in 
these  fields  has  been  done  during  the  last  sixty  years.* 
At  present  much  attention  is  being  given  to  the  study  of 
the  ancient  developed  civilizations  of  Asia  and  Africa,  and 
in  these  also  it  is  obvious  that  social  problems  and  social 
theorizing  formed  an  important  part  of  the  intellectual 
life  of  those  times.  Indeed,  their  conclusions  are  usually 
strikingly  modern  in  tone,  but  this  is  not  at  all  surpris- 
ing when  we  remember  that  the  human  intellect  was  prob- 
ably fully  as  capable  then  as  now,  and-  reasoned  just  as 
logically  from  the  facts  before  it.  There  was  not,  how- 
ever, in  those  ages  the  abundance  of  facts  from  which 
to  reason,  or  well  developed  positive  sciences  to  be  used 
as  bases  for  further  study.  They  reasoned  well  from  the 
imperfect  data  in  their  possession  but,  since  their  infor- 
mation was  defective,  their  conclusions  also  were  im- 
perfect. Yet  the  conclusions  of  ancient  peoples  based  on 
the  homely  daily  experience  common  to  all  ages  of  civili- 
zation were  as  full  of  common  sense  and  empirical  wis- 
dom as  those  of  the  average  modern  man,  perhaps  more 
so,  and  these,  as  wise  sayings  or  proverbs,^  were  handed 

*  In  the  anthropological  sciences,  for  example. 
"  Benjamin  Franklin's  Poor  Richard's  Almanac  is  a  gopd  mpderu 
illustration  of  such  sayings. 


WHAT  IS  SOCIAL  SCIENCE?  19 

on  by  tradition  as  the  mature  concensus  of  opinion  of 
many  generations  respecting  their  social  problems.  In 
later  centuries  these  were  written  into  holy  books  and 
considered  as  ancient  oracles  and  revelations  from  the 
gods,  so  that  they  became  fundamental  for  future  phi- 
losophizing, since  they  were  passed  on  through  instruc- 
tion to  succeeding  generations  and  civilizations. 

In  the  Later  Ages. — In  any  complete  study  of  the  de- 
velopment of  social  science,  therefore,  emphasis  would 
naturally  be  placed  first  on  the  results  obtained  from  so- 
cial studies  of  the  contributions  to  social  information 
made  by  earlier  civilizations,  as  testified  by  their  institu- 
tions and  traditions  and  by  their  "wisdom  literature"  in 
its  many  forms.  A  great  advance  was  made  in  social 
philosophizing  when,  after  centuries  of  slow  development, 
there  came  into  use  an  alphabet  like  that  of  the  Greeks 
in  which  each  symbol  represented  a  definite  sound.  This 
most  important  "tool  of  the  mind"  °  powerfully  aided 
men  in  their  attempts  to  transmit  to  later  generations  the 
results  of  human  philosophizing,  so  that  real  civilization 
of  a  progressive  sort  began  with  the  Greeks,  who  were 
able  to  write  out  their  complete  thought  and  to  transmit 
it,  without  the  necessity  of  condensing  it  into  pithy  sen- 
tences or  axiomatic  statements  made  in  a  rigid  and  nar- 
row vocabulary.  This  contribution  of  the  classical  period, 
the  Greek  written  language,  and  its  later  rivals,  the  Latin 
and  the  Arabic,  standardized  philosophical,  juristic,  and 
religious  thought  for  some  two  thousand  years,  since 
relatively  few  contributions  were  made  to  intellectual 
achievement  after  the  passing  of  the  Greek  age.  In  the 
Fifteenth  Century  the  invention  of  the  printing  press 

'  The  generic  "tools  of  the  mind"  are  spoken  and  written  language, 
logic,  and  mathematics. 


20  SOCIOLOGY 

enormously  multiplied  the  diffusion  of  knowledge,  and 
gave  opportunity  for  the  development  of  national  lan- 
guages. Then  came  the  discovery  of  the  Americas  and 
the  ocean  voyage  to  the  Indies,  thus  broadening  the  hu- 
man horizon  so  as  to  include  in  its  sweep  the  whole  of 
mankind  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth.  The  newer 
knowledge  gained  after  the  Fifteenth  Century  through 
these  enlargements  of  human  knowledge  gave  a  basis  for 
the  modern  era,  characterized  by  the  rise  of  science,  using 
the  inductive  methods  of  observation,  comparison,  and 
experimentation.  This  scientific  point  of  view  slowly 
began  to  manifest  itself  in  the  field  of  social  phenomena 
and  was  definitely  adopted  in  the  Nineteenth  Century, 
when  applications  of  its  methods  to  social  problems  were 
made  by  such  sociological  forerunners  as  Comte  and 
Quetelet  of  France.  From  that  time  forth  the  scientific 
study  of  social  phenomena  has  been  well  to  the  front  and 
tends  to  become  more  exact  and  precise  as  the  years  pass 
on.  Our  own  generation  is  predominantly  a  social  age, 
and  social  and  sociological  interpretations  are  in  demand, 
since  they  throw  light  on  the  complex  problems  of  human 
progress  and,  in  process  of  time,  may  be  expected  to  assist 
greatly  in  the  formulation  of  right  social  and  civic 
policies. 


CHAPTER  III 

SOCIAL  TEACHINGS  OF  EARLIER  CENTURIES 

Instruction  of  Ptah-Hotep. — Some  illustrations  will 
now  be  given  showing  the  kinds  of  social  philosophizing 
that  may  be  obtained  from  former  writings.  No  attempt 
will  be  made  to  illustrate  from  that  part  of  wisdom  litera- 
ture which  consists  of  proverbs  and  wise  sayings  given 
as  guides  to  human  conduct.  These  are  common  in  all 
literatures,  ancient  and  modern,  and  in  the  Old  Testament 
find  exemplification  in  such  books  as  "Proverbs"  and  "Ec- 
clesiastes."  ^  There  is,  however,  a  variation  of  this  type 
of  literature,  more  unified  in  kind,  in  which  usually  a  no- 
bleman, or  a  wise  man,  or  a  father,  embodies  in  the  form 
of  a  discourse  or  lecture  instruction  and  advice  for  the 
younger  generation.  One  of  the  most  interesting  of  these 
is  known  as  The  Instruction  of  Ptah-Hotep.^  This  little 
work,  said  to  be  the  oldest  complete  book  in  the  world,  is 
a  summary  of  the  principles  of  conduct  and  social  stand- 
ards current  at  that  time,  given  in  the  form  of  advice 
from  a  father  to  his  son  and  was  used  in  Egyptian  schools 
as  a  textbook  of  manners.  In  this  little  sketch  the  son 
is  advised  to  show  proper  respect  and  reverence  to  his 
superiors,  to  be  careful  in  speech,  yet  when  he  has  worthy 
thoughts  to  express  he  is  urged  not  to  hesitate  to  de- 

*  Illustrations  also  may  be  found  in  the  "Wisdom  of  the  East" 
scries  of  monographs. 

'  Written  in   Egypt  about   3530  B.   C. ;   tr.  by  B.   G.    Gunn,   see 
"Wisdom  of  the  East"  series. 

21 


22  SOCIOLOGY 

dare  his  views,  so  that  those  who  listen  may  declare, 
"How  excellent  is  that  which  cometh  out  of  his  mouth." 
He  is  advised  to  be  modest  of  his  attainments  and  to  seek 
to  discourse  even  with  the  unlearned  man  who  yet  "has 
some  knowledge  worth  knowing."  As  a  leader  he  should 
be  courteous  to  his  inferiors,  just  in  his  dealings,  and 
truthful  always.  He  should  not  be  avaricious  and  should 
appreciate  the  advantage  of  leisure,  for  he  is  told, 
"Lengthen  not  the  daytime  more  than  is  needful  to  main- 
tain thine  house.  When  riches  are  gained,  follow  the 
heart,  for  riches  are  of  no  avail  if  one  be  weary." 

Again,  he  is  advised,  "H  thou  wouldst  be  wise,  provide 
for  thine  house  and  love  thy  wife — Gladden  her  heart, — 
be  not  harsh,  for  gentleness  mastereth  her  more  than 
strength."  The  domestic  servant  problem  was  felt,  for 
the  son  was  urged  to  "satisfy  thine  hired  servants  out  of 
such  things  as  thou  hast;  it  is  the  duty  of  one  that  hath 
been  favored  of  the  God.  In  sooth,  it  is  hard  to  satisfy 
hired  servants, — and  even  when  favors  have  been 
shown  unto  them  they  say.  We  go !"  Again,  he  is  urged, 
"Plunder  not  the  houses  of  tenants,"  and  "Let  thy  face 
be  bright  what  time  thou  livest"  for  "It  is  a  man's  kindly 
acts  that  are  remembered  of  him  in  the  years  after  his 
life." 

Teaching  of  Confucius. — Another  important  illus- 
tration of  this  older  sort  of  literature  is  found  in  the 
teachings  of  Confucius  in  his  doctrine  in  regard  to  the 
Superior  Man.^  In  these  teachings,  which  make  up  the 
essence  of  the  Confucian  system,  self -development  and 
the  practice  of  right  living  are  represented  as  the  highest 
art.     Therefore,  he  argues,  it  is  the  business  of  every 

*  "The  Ethics  of  Confucius,"  arranged  according  to  the  plan  of 
Confucius,  with  running  commentaries,  by  Miles  Menander  Daw- 
son  (1915). 


SOCIAL  TEACHINGS  OF  EARLIER  CENTURIES    23 

thoughtful  man  to  develop  himself  intellectually  into  a 
superior  type  of  man.  This  is  accomplished  chiefly 
through  study,  specially  through  the  investigation  of  mat- 
ters concerning  men,  animals,  and  things ;  that  is,  the  in- 
vestigation of  environment  or  phenomena,  because 
through  this  sort  of  study  the  mind  becomes  open  and 
free  from  prejudice,  and  develops  through  facility  in  in- 
vestigation a  fondness  for  the  study  of  causes.  This 
kind  of  study,  he  asserts,  is  far  better  than  speculation 
about  immaterial  matters. 

Again,  he  emphasizes  the  thought  that  a  superior  man 
through  his  knowledge  of  himself  will  obtain  a  complete 
control  over  his  appetites,  subduing  these  by  the  power 
of  his  intelligence.  In  this  way  he  builds  up  a  character 
for  rectitude  and  virtue.  This  conquest  over  appetite 
can  be  obtained  only  by  thoroughness,  continuity  of  pur- 
pose, and  a  keen  insight  into  the  end  desired,  with  con- 
stant introspection  so  as  to  see  his  weaknesses  in  order 
the  better  to  control  them.  When  the  superior  man  be- 
comes through  study  open-minded  and  intelligent  and  by 
conquest  of  passion  becomes  well  poised  and  just,  it  will 
be  comparatively  easy  for  him  to  direct  his  will  toward 
right  ends  so  as  to  achieve  his  purposes.  The  superior 
man  will  find  relaxation  not  in  bodily  passions  but  in 
the  enjoyment  of  the  fine  arts,  especially  in  music  and  in 
the  comprehension  and  practice  of  ceremony  or  etiquette. 
Friendship  also,  and  free  conversation  with  intelligent 
men  will  furnish  relaxation  and  enjoyment. 

There  are  three  famous  sayings  of  his  that  illustrate 
fairly  well  his  teachings. 

(i)  Thos-^,  who  are  born  in  the  possession  of  knowl- 
edge are  the  highest  class  of  men.  Those  who  learn  and  so 
acquire  knowledge  are  next.    The  dull  and  stupid  who  yet 


24  SOCIOLOGY 

achieve  knowledge  are  in  a  class  next  to  these.  Those  who 
are  dull  and  stupid  and  yet  do  not  learn  are  the  lowest  of  the 
people. 

(2)  There  are  three  universally  recognized  qualities 
in  man,  namely,  intelligence,  moral  character,  and  cour- 
age. 

Some  men  are  born  with  the  knowledge  of  these  moral 
qualities;  some  acquire  it  as  the  result  of  education;  some 
acquire  it  as  the  result  of  hard  experience.  But  when  the 
knowledge  is  acquired,  it  comes  to  one  and  the  same  thing. 

(3)  He  only  can  exist  under  Heaven  who  is  possessed 
of  all  sagely  qualities,  who  shows  himself  quick  in  appre- 
hension, clear  in  discernment,  of  far-reaching  intelligence 
and  all-embracing  knowledge,  fitted  to  exercise  rule;  mag- 
nanimous, generous,  benign,  and  mild,  fitted  to  exercise  for- 
bearance; impulsive,  energetic,  firm,  and  enduring,  fitted  to 
maintain  a  firm  grasp;  self-adjusted,  grave,  never  swerv- 
ing from  the  [golden]  mean  and  the  correct,  fitted  to  com- 
mand reverence ;  accomplished,  distinctive,  concentrative, 
and  searching,  fitted  to  exercise  discrimination.  All  embrac- 
ing is  he,  and  vast,  deep,  and  active  as  a  fountain,  sending 
forth  in  their  due  seasons  his  virtues. 

Confucius  in  his  teachings  also  discusses  social  rela- 
tionships among  men,  paying  especial  attention  to  the 
family  and  the  State.*  These  teachings  represent  the  best 
standards  of  patriarchal  civilization,  emphasizing  of 
course,  in  the  case  of  the  family,  honorable  marriage, 
filial  piety,  and  mutual  duties  in  conjugal  and  parental  re- 
lationships. In  the  case  of  the  State,  he  shows  the  ne- 
cessity of  providing  for  the  welfare  of  the  people  so  that 
they  may  be  free  from  extreme  poverty  by  proper  eco- 
nomic arrangement  ordained  through  government.  Re- 
spect for  law,  order,  and  the  necessity  for  a  broad  general 

*  See  Dawson,  Chaps.  IV  and  V. 


SOCIAL  TEACHINGS  OF  EARLIER  CENTURIES       25 

education  are  emphasized  and  the  importance  of  careful 
poHcies  in  questions  of  taxation  and  war. 

Confucius  also  had  clearly  in  mind  a  sort  of  perfect 
humanity,  although  it  is  uncertain  whether  he  thought  of 
this  as  a  golden  age  in  the  past  or  more  probably  as  a 
future  social  organization  yet  to  be  attained.  The  fol- 
lowing extract  from  Doctor  Chang's  work  on  The  Eco- 
nomic Priiirciples  of  Confucius  and  His  ScJiool  ^  gives  a 
translation  from  Confucius'  teaching  of  a  perfect  state 
and  perfect  society. 

When  the  Great  Principle*'  prevails,  the  whole  world 
becomes  a  republic;  they  elect  men  of  talents,  virtue,  and 
ability ;  they  talk  about  sincere  agreement,  and  cultivate  uni- 
versal peace.  .  .  .  Thus,  men  do  not  regard  as  their  pa- 
rents only  their  own  parents,  or  treat  as  their  children  only 
their  own  children.  A  competent  provision  is  secured  for 
the  aged  till  their  death,  employment  for  the  middle-aged, 
and  the  means  of  growing  up  for  the  young.  The  widow- 
ers, widows,  orphans,  childless  men,  and  those  who  are  dis- 
abled by  disease,  are  all  sufficiently  maintained.  Each  man 
has  his  rights,  and  each  woman  her  individuality  safe- 
guarded. They  produce  wealth,  disliking  that  it  should  be 
thrown  away  upon  the  ground,  but  not  wishing  to  keep  it 
for  their  own  gratification.  Disliking  idleness,  they  labor, 
but  not  alone  with  a  view  to  their  own  advantage.  In  this 
way  selfish  schemings  are  repressed  and  find  no  way  to 
arise.  Robbers,  filchers,  and  rebellious  traitors  do  not  exist. 
Hence  the  outer  doors  remain  open,  and  are  not  shut.  This 
is  the  state  of  what  I  call  the  Great  Similarity. 

This  ideal,  which  is  not  unlike  in  many  respects  Plato's 
Republic,  depicts  a  perfection  toward  which  men  in  this 
life  can  merely  approach.    Confucius,  through  the  teach- 

'  Columbia  College  Series,  Vols,  xliv  and  xlv. 
'Of  the  "Great  Similarity,"  practically  equivalent  to  equality  of 
opportunity. 


26  SOCIOLOGY 

ings  he  advanced  in  regard  to  the  conduct  of  life,  hoped 
to  enable  men  to  attain  in  some  degree  at  least  this  social 
ideal. 

Other  Eastern  Teachings. — The  Code  of  Hammu- 
rabi, king  of  Babylon  about  2250  B.C.,  the  oldest  code 
extant,  which  was  discovered  in  1901,  furnishes  another 
type  of  information  illustrative  of  ancient  social  stand- 
ards. Its  provisions  treat  of  business  contracts  and  agri- 
culture; the  relations  of  social  classes,  including  slaves 
one  to  the  other;  the  system  of  inheritance  then  prevail- 
ing; the  rights  and  obligations  of  women  whose  status  in 
those  days  was  fairly  high  among  the  better  classes ;  fam- 
ily and  religious  life;  and  systems  of  punishment  for 
various  crime,  based  usually  on  the  lex  taUonis  or  on 
fines,  but  including  many  capital  offenses. 

Another  form  of  ancient  teaching  of  social  significance 
comes  from  a  study  of  the  more  ancient  religious  teach- 
ings such  as  may  be  found  in  the  Rig-Veda  and  the  other 
Vedantic  literature  of  India  or  in  the  teachings  of  re- 
ligious leaders  like  Zoroaster,  as  found  in  the  Zend 
Avesta.*^  Zoroaster,  who  is  supposed  to  have  lived  about 
the  Sixteenth  Century  B.  C,  sought  to  restore  the  primi- 
tive teachings  of  the  ancient  Aryan  faith  with  its  nature 
worship,  its  spiritual  explanations,  and  its  social  regula- 
tion in  respect  to  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  people. 
He  represents  God  as  creating  the  heavens  and  the  earth, 
ushering  in  thereby  a  golden  age.  No  evil  exists  among 
men  who  busy  themselves  in  agriculture  and  in  the  care 
of  domesticated  animals.  Then  came  the  fall  and  because 
of  the  introduction  of  evil  into  the  world  men  came  in 


'*  The  Parsees  of  modern  India  are  his  followers.  See  interesting 
article  on  "The  Parsees"  by  William  Thomas  Fee,  National 
Geographic  Magazine,  December,  1905.  ^ 


SOCIAL  TEACHINGS  OF  EARLIER  CENTURIES    27 

need  of  instruction  and  this  instruction  Zoroaster  sought 
to  impart.  In  social  matters  he  emphasized  sanitation,  per- 
sonal hygiene,  and  many  precautions  in  case  of  sickness. 
Burials  in  the  earth  were  prohibited,  bodies  being  exposed 
to  the  action  of  the  elements.  He  especially  enjoined 
kindly  treatment  of  animals,  humane  methods  of  slaugh- 
ter, and  forbade  hunting  for  amusement.  Men  were  to 
exercise  charity  towards  all  and  to  be  kindly  in  their  re- 
lations one  to  another.  Stress  was  placed  on  industry  and 
honorable  marriage  was  enjoined  upon  all,  every  man 
being  urged  to  have  home,  wife,  children,  and  vocation. 
Chastity  was  strongly  taught,  but  in  case  of  illegitimacy 
the  father  was  required  to  care  for  mother  and  child.  In 
social  status  the  wife  was  to  be  equal  to  the  husband. 
He  gave  much  attention  to  questions  of  education  and 
required  toleration  in  religious  matters,  and  exact  honesty 
in  all  business  contracts. 

In  the  same  manner,  the  Laws  of  Manu,^  a  compilation 
dating  back  some  two  thousand  years,  gives  similar  in- 
formation regarding  the  cosmogony,  education,  morals, 
and  religious  and  social  life  of  the  ancient  Hindus. 

Studies  of  Social  Institutions. — Based  on  sources 
similar  to  these  there  are  now  several  modem  studies  giv- 
ing what  may  be  called  a  social  interpretation  to  the  institu- 
tions and  developments  of  ancient  peoples.  Among  these 
as  typical  may  be  mentioned  Professor  Gummere  on  Ger- 
manic Origuis,  in  which  he  traces  from  Germanic  legend 
and  epic  the  institutions  of  our  ancestors  some  two  thou- 
sand years  ago.  Another  along  somewhat  similar  lines  is 
Professor  Keller's  study  of  Homeric  Society,  in  which  he 
carefully  traces  from  the  Homeric  poems  the  social  stand- 
ards and  institutions  of  that  famous  period  of  Greek 

'  See  "Sacred  Books  of  the  past"  series. 


28  SOCIOLOGY 

history.  A  third  illustration  of  this  sort  of  literature  is 
contained  in  the  excellent  study  by  Louis  Wallis  entitled 
Sociological  Study  of  the  Bible.^  In  this  work  of  Mr. 
Wallis'  he  seeks  to  interpret  in  the  light  of  Biblical  criti- 
cism the  economic  and  social  development  of  the  Hebraic 
people,  using  as  his  thesis  the  thought  that  this  history 
on  the  whole  is  a  struggle  between  two  conflicting  ideas ; 
one  based  on  urban  civilization  dominated  by  aristocratic 
standards,  with  consequent  oppression  of  the  masses ; 
the  other,  a  rural,  more  democratic  demand  for  justice 
and  freedom,  a  demand  voiced  by  the  prophets  and  car- 
ried to  its  theoretical  consummation  in  the  teachings  of 
Jesus  and  the  early  Fathers.  In  this  work  and  in  his 
previous  work,  An  Examination  of  Society,  Mr.  Wallis 
furnishes  excellent  studies  showing  the  importance  of  re- 
interpreting Hebraic  history  from  economic  and  social 
standpoints. 

Summary  of  Ancient  Teachings. — ^From  the  teachings 
of  Ptah-Hotep  and  from  social  studies  of  ancient  civiliza- 
tions it  can  be  readily  seen  that  a  fairly  high  type  of 
social  philosophizing  had  developed  even  as  far  back  as 
six  thousand  years  ago.  There  must  have  been  much 
reflection  on  social  questions  in  those  days  and  many 
attempts  to  solve  interrogations  respecting  social  origins 
and  destiny,  but  the  type  of  written  language  in  use  was 
not  suited  to  philosophic  expression  and  hence  exact 
knowledge  of  their  thoughts  is  lacking. 

Those  stages  of  civilization  that  produce  wise  sayings 
and  types  of  "superior  men,"  seem  to  emphasize  a  sort 
of  static  notion  of  social  philosophizing.  The  best  minds 
of  the  age  musing  on  social  experiences,  come  to  decisions 


'In   Appendix  of  this  work  see  his  bibliographical  note  on  the 
"Jiistpry  of  Sociological  Bible-Study,"  p.  299. 


SOCIAL  TEACHINGS  OF  EARLIER  CENTURIES       29 

as  to  what  is  ultimately  best  and  announce  "the  con- 
clusion of  the  whole  matter"  (Ecc.  12,  13.).  On  the 
other  hand,  dramas  like  those  of  the  Book  of  Job  and 
Prometheus  Bound "^^  represent  a  stage  of  indecision;  the 
one  raising  the  question,  why  in  human  experience  should 
the  good  suffer  and  the  wicked  prosper,  and  the  other 
charging  injustice  against  the  gods  who  punish  vindic- 
tively the  benefactor  of  man. 

In  the  Greek  "Age  of  Discussion,"  ^^  when  East  and 
West  were  mingling  their  civilizations  and  ancient  stand- 
ards had  become  unsettled,  ancient  customs  and  beliefs 
lost  their  hold  on  the  more  thoughtful  part  of  Greek 
public  opinion  so  that  new  points  of  view  and  social  re- 
forms of  all  sorts  came  to  the  front.  Political  inno- 
vators like  Solon,  Cleisthenes,  and  Pericles  are  well 
known,  but  there  were  numerous  social  reforms  and 
panaceas  projected,  references  to  which  are  common  in 
the  comedies  of  the  conservative  Aristophanes.  The 
Sophists  against  whom  he  railed  were  those  seeking  to 
justify  the  proposition  that  ancient  customs  and  beliefs 
were  largely  outgrown  and  that  each  new  generation, 
or  every  man,  should  make  its  or  his  own  decisions  as  to 
what  is  right  and  good.  Aristotle  also  in  his  Politics 
(Book  II)  calls  attention  to  the  communistic  teachings  of 
certain  social  reformers  of  that  time,  and  he  especially 
denounced  in  quite  modern  argument  some  of  the  com- 
munistic reforms  advocated  by  Plato. 

Plato's  Teachings. — Plato,  by  general  consent,  how- 
ever, is  taken  as  the  best  type  of  the  social  theorist  of  his 
age,  not  merely  because  of  his  wisdom,  but  because  he 

*"  See  John  Owen's  The  Five  Great  Skeptical  Dramas  of  History. 
1896. 
"  See  Bagehot's  Physics  and  Politics,  Chap.  V. 


30  SOCIOLOGY 

saw  the  need  of  change  and  tried  to  work  out  the  proper 
bases  for  reform  and  to  sug-gest  a  rightly  organized 
society.  These  teachings  of  his  are  chiefly  contained  in 
the  Republic  and  the  Laws  and  in  so  far  as  they  advocate 
models  for  social  reorganization  they  proved  to  be  a  com- 
plete failure.  Dreading  the  spread  of  democracy,  as  he 
did,  and  admiring  the  theoretical  simplicity  and  stability 
of  Spartan  civilization,  he  set  up  as  the  social  ideal,  petty, 
agricultural  communes,  aristocratic  in  organization  and 
static  in  type.  His  greatness,  however,  consisted  in  his 
capacity  to  see  clearly  the  great  underlying  principles 
of  an  idealized  human  association  and  to  present  these 
so  cogently  in  his  arguments,  that  they  have  proved  to 
be  a  constant  stimulus  in  later  generations  to  others  who 
have  struggled  with  similar  problems.  He,  for  example, 
taught  that  justice  is  the  real  aim  of  social  organization; 
that  every  person,  male  or  female,  noble  or  ignoble  by 
birth,  should  be  given  equal  opportunities  for  advance- 
ment; that  a  well  balanced  system  of  education,  open  to 
all,  is  the  fundamental  for  this  purpose,  and  that  the 
State  is  safest  when  government  is  in  the  hands  of  men 
(or  women)  of  wide  experience  and  wisdom,  selected 
on  the  basis  of  proven  capacity.  In  the  Laws,  a  work 
full  of  the  detail  of  social  reform,  he  emphasizes  tem- 
perance in  drinking,  chastity  for  both  sexes,  the  reform 
of  criminals,  the  elimination  of  those  seen  to  be  inher- 
ently unfit,  and  the  wisdom  of  encouraging  capable  men 
to  travel  abroad  for  the  purpose  of  observation  and  study, 
so  as  to  bring  back  suggestions  for  social  improvement. 
Hellenic  leadership  and  equal  opportunities  for  all  Greeks 
were  basal  in  Plato's  scheme  of  reorganization,  but  the 
conquests  of  Greece  by  Macedonia  and  by  Rome  put  an 
end  to  thoughts  of  social  betterment  under  Greek  initia- 


SOCIAL  TEACHINGS  OF  EARLIER  CENTURIES    31 

tive.  Speculative  philosophy  in  respect  to  the  gods  and 
the  cosmos  was  safer,  and  attracted  the  attention  of  later 
generations. 

Roman  Influence. — Such  reforms  as  the  Romans  de- 
veloped or  speculated  about  were  governmental,  admin- 
istrative, and  legal  in  kind,  due  partly  to  Greek  influences 
and  partly  to  a  somewhat  steady  trend  towards  democ- 
racy, so  far  as  that  was  possible  on  the  basis  of  a  re- 
stricted suffrage  and  a  mass  of  proletariat  population 
composed  largely  of  freedmen,  slaves,  and  aliens.  There 
were  noble  teachings  of  right  living,  human  brotherhood, 
and  world  justice  in  the  Epicurean  and  Stoic  philosophy 
favored  by  Roman  writers;  there  were  agrarian  move- 
ments, proletarian  revolts,  and  crude  systems  of  state 
charity,  but  the  civilization  of  Rome  was  neither  social 
nor  philosophic  in  type,  being  built  on  a  basis  of  war  and 
exploitation,  so  that  there  was  little  demand  for  any- 
thing savoring  of  social  philosophy.  It  was  a  civilization 
based  on  the  "will  to  power,"  and  it  was  assumed  that 
Roman  Kuitiir  should  dominate  the  earth.  When  the 
dream  of  world  supremacy  began  to  wane  under  the 
threats  of  barbarian  invasions  Tacitus  gave  us  in  his 
Germania  an  idealized  picture  of  Germanic  barbarism, 
depicting  it  as  a  sort  of  Utopia  of  the  simple  Hfe  so  be- 
loved by  ancient  tlieorists.  Some  three  hundred  years 
later,  when  Rome  seemed  near  its  end,  in  St.  Augustine's 
Civitds  Dei  we  find  a  definite  teaching  of  the  emptiness 
of  human  and  imperialistic  ambitions,  and  an  insistance 
on  the  unity  of  mankind,  and  the  continuity  of  human  his- 
tory', which  under  God's  guidance,  moves  steadily  for- 
ward, towards  a  celestial  goal  foreseen  in  the  divine  mind. 
The  chief  defect  of  this  work,  from  the  social  standpoint. 


32  SOCIOLOGY 

is  that  it  seeks  to  concentrate  human  effort  on  other  world 
aspirations  rather  than  on  human  progress. 

Saracenic  Social  Teachings. — The  next  really  im- 
portant contribution  to  sociological  speculation  developed 
among  the  Saracens  with  the  rise  of  Mohammedism.^^ 
It  is  an  illustration  of  the  dynamic  effect  of  the  mingling 
of  civilizations  at  a  time  of  intense  activity.  The  stationary 
civilization  of  Arabia  with  its  wisdom  sayings  and  sym- 
bolic parables  suddenly  came  in  contact  through  war  and 
conquest  with  the  wisdom  of  Persia,  India,  and  Greek 
Asia  Minor.  Plato  and  other  Greek  philosophers  and 
scientists,  especially  Aristotle,  became  known  through 
translations  and  the  fascination  of  a  higher  civilization 
also  made  its  suggestions  to  a  highly  suggestible  race. 
In  consequence  of  these  influences,  there  sprung  up  Sar- 
acenic theologies,  philosophies,  sciences,  and  literature, 
and,  as  these  came  into  fruition,  along  with  the  decline  of 
enthusiasm  and  loss  of  political  prestige,  there  came  a  sort 
of  encyclopaedic  and  social  movement  like  that  of  France 
in  the  Eighteenth  Century.  In  the  latter  half  of  the  Tenth 
Century,  e.g.,  there  arose  the  Brethren  of  Basra,  an  as- 
cetic body,  who  prepared  (in  fifty-one  treatises)  an  en- 
cyclopaedia of  the  sciences  of  that  time,  mingled  however 
with  theology  and  religion.  A  century  or  so  earlier  had 
flourished  Masudi  (died  about  956)  who  devoted  him- 
self to  what  would  be  called  the  social  history  of  his  civ- 
ilization. This  study  found  its  culmination  in  the  writ- 
ings of  Ibn  Khaldun,^*  the  most  distinctly  sociological  of 
all  Saracenic  writers.  He  was  positivistic  in  his  method, 
emphasizing  observation  and  comparison,  and  argued  for 
the  continuity  of  social  history,  asserting  that  there  are 

"  The  basis  for  this  paragraph  is  chiefly  taken  from  De  Boer's 
History  of  Philosophy  in  Islam. 

"Born  at  Tunis,  1332;  died  at  Cairo,  1406. 


SOCIAL  TEACHINGS  OF  EARLIER  CENTURIES    33 

principles  of  causation  underlying  social  phenomena,  so 
that  from  a  knowledge  of  the  past  light  would  be  thrown 
on  the  future.  History,  he  argued,  should  study  human 
associations,  racial  elements,  climatic  influences,  the  strug- 
gle for  foods,  the  stages  of  civilization  (nomadic,  mili- 
taristic, urban),  and  the  social  attainment  of  intelligence, 
science,  and  culture.  Social  evolution  he  taught  is  cyclic, 
or  rather  spiral,  revolving  through  the  stages  above  men- 
tioned, but  on  somewhat  higher  planes,  through  the  social 
assimilation  by  nomadic  tribes  of  conquered  urban  civili- 
zation. Like  Plato  he  lived  at  the  end  of  an  age,  when 
Islamism  had  passed  its  climax,  so  that  none  of  his  race 
followed  him,  as  he  had  hoped,  in  carrying  on  his  investi- 
gations towards  a  sounder  science  of  social  history. 

Early  Modern  Writers. — The  Renaissance  of  Western 
Europe,  under  the  stimulus  of  classic  learning  and  con- 
tact with  Saracenic  civilization.  East  ajid  West,  and  the 
inventions  and  discoveries  of  the  Fifteenth  Century 
largely  destroyed  interest  in  theologic  and  philosophic 
discussions  and  turned  men  towards  a  social,  scientific  in- 
terpretation of  life.  In  action  the  new  movement  at  first 
took  the  classic  form  of  plebeian  uprisings  and  peasant  re- 
volts arising  from  a  sense  of  injustice  and  inequality,  like 
the  peasants'  insurrections  of  Luther's  time,  so  mercilessly 
repressed  by  the  Junkers  of  that  day  with  Luther's  appro- 
bation. These  unsuccessful  rebellions  were  followed  by 
more  successful  revolutions  such  as  those  of  Switzerland, 
the  Netherlands,  England  under  Cromwell  and  William 
of  Orange,  and  the  American  and  French  revolutions  of 
the  following  centuries.  In  theorizing,  philosophers  like 
Marsiglio  and  Bodin  at  first  imitated  Plato  and  Aristotle 
by  writing  studies  of  politics  and  speculating  on  the  Re- 
public.    Then  came  tangible  suggestions  of  improvement 


34  SOCIOLOGY 

in  Utopian  form,  based  on  Platonic  notions  of  a  simple, 

intellectual  life  in  city-state  communities,  but  also  infused 
with  ideas  from  the  immediate  environment.  These 
studies  find  their  best  illustrations  in  Sir  Thomas  More's 
Utopia,  Campanella's  City  of  the  Sun,  Francis  Bacon's 
New  Atlantis,  and  Harrington's  Oceana;  four  Utopias 
wonderfully  rich  in  social  suggestion  and  distinctly  mod- 
ern in  their  emphasis  on  the  necessity  of  economic  read- 
justment, broad  education,  and  scientific  information. 

Another  type  of  philosophic  study  developed  through 
such  writers  as  Thomas  Hobbes,  who  in  his  writings  em- 
phasized the  social  contract  and  argued  for  a  science  of 
"civitology,"  in  thought  very  like  a  premature  sociology; 
Grotius,  who  in  his  theory  of  a  law  among  nations  em- 
phasized the  enlarging  of  the  term  "society"  so  as  to  in- 
clude all  Christendom ;  and  John  Locke,  who  had  a  great 
influence  on  the  social  studies  of  the  Eighteenth  Century 
by  his  teachings  of  social  compact,  religious  toleration, 
and  his  psychological  theory  of  the  sensations,  involving 
as  it  did  an  emphasis  on  environment  rather  than  on 
heredity.  Vico  in  his  Scienza  Nuova  (1725-1730)  had 
in  mind  a  sort  of  social  philosophy  of  history  and  a  the- 
ory of  the  evolution  of  law,  emphasizing  points  of  view 
derived  from  classic  teachings  and  St.  Augustine,  and  not 
unlike  in  essence  the  teachings  presented  by  Ibn  Khaldun. 

French  Writers  of  the  Eighteenth  Century. — The 
Eighteenth  Century  represents  the  culmination  of  the  pre- 
modern  period  of  social  theorizing  and  presents  a  remark- 
able series  of  great  names  and  teachings.  France  was 
easily  dominant  in  this  development,  as  always  in  idealistic 
philosophizing.  Voltaire  emphasized  rationalism  and 
fought  the  vices  of  the  Church,  Montesquieu  in  his  Persian 
Letters,  criticized  the  evils  of  western  civilization  and  in 


SOCIAL  TEACHINGS  OF  EARLIER  CENTURIES    35 

his  Spirit  of  Laws,  in  many  respects  the  most  famous 
book  of  his  century,  sought  to  show  the  fundamental  laws 
underlying  civilization,  stressing  the  influence  of  climatic 
and  geographic  conditions,  the  necessity  of  reorganizing 
social  and  political  structure  so  as  to  secure  justice  among 
men,  and  ardently  advocating  reforms  in  the  treatment  of 
criminals  and  the  abolition  of  slavery.  The  Encyclopae- 
dists under  the  leadership  of  Diderot  sought  to  formulate 
and  to  classify  all  knowledge,  along  lines  suggested  by 
Sir  Francis  Bacon,  and  laid  down,  as  they  supposed,  the 
fundamentals  to  all  social  reorganization  in  their  advo- 
cacy of  general  education  in  encyclopasdic  information 
and  of  modifications  in  social  environment.  Turgot,  when 
chief  minister  of  France,  in  addition  to  economic  reforms, 
suggested  the  later  Comtean  law  of  the  three  stages,  and 
Condorcet,  at  the  end  of  the  century,  sought  to  show  the 
historic  social  stages  of  human  development.  Rousseau 
in  the  second  third  of  the  century  popularized  the  Lockean 
theory  of  the  social  contract,  with  continental  variations, 
revived  the  Epicurean  emphasis  on  the  feelings  and  emo- 
tions, and  brought  Stoic  enthusiasm  for  nature,  natural 
rights,  and  natural  methods,  into  politics  and  education, 
stimulating  at  the  same  time  romanticism  in  love  and  liter- 
ature. Finally  the  French  Revolution,  fecund  in  social 
reformers  and  Utopians,  actualized  for  a  time  many  of 
these  suggestions  for  social  reorganization ;  exalted  before 
men's  eyes  from  that  time  forth  the  social  trinity  of  Lib- 
erty, Equality,  Fraternity;  and  stimulated  in  the  Nine- 
teenth Century  reformers  after  the  type  of  Fourier  and 
Louis  Blanc  and  social  philosophers,  of  whom  Auguste 
Comte  was  the  chief. 

English  Social  Writers. — Beccaria  in  Italy  became 
the  father  of  modern  penology  by  his  teachings  in  respect 


36  SOCIOLOGY 

to  the  treatment  of  criminals,  and  this  was  taken  up  in 
England  by  John  Howard,  Patrick  Colquhoun,  Elizabeth 
Fry,  and  by  Jeremy  Bentham  in  his  advocacy  of  improved 
penal  laws  and  prison  architecture.  Adam  Smith  by  his 
Wealth  of  Nations  became  the  apostle  of  laissez-faire  and 
individualism;  Bentham,  who  lived  well  into  the  Nine- 
teenth Century,  taught  utilitarianism,  showing  how  a  state 
should  legislate  so  as  to  secure  the  "greatest  happiness 
to  the  greatest  number,"  and  stimulated  as  his  successors 
John  Austin,  who  so  deeply  influenced  the  development 
of  English  law,  and  John  Stuart  Mill,  the  famous  writer 
in  behalf  of  social-economic  reforms.  In  Bentham's  time 
also  came  Malthus  with  his  theory  of  population,^*  which 
suggested  to  Darwin  the  principle  of  natural  selection,  and 
Robert  Owen,  who,  stressing  the  French  emphasis  on  edu- 
cation and  environment  and  developing  his  own  version  of 
industrial  cooperation,  started  English  social  and  coopera- 
tive movements  that  developed  increasing  momentum  and 
reached  their  culmination  in  the  great  social  legislation  of 
Parliament  enacted  between  1904-14. 

The  Beginnings  of  Modern  Science. — Meanwhile, 
after  centuries  of  mental  incubation,  the  modern  sciences 
had  come  into  existence,  forming  as  they  do  the  much 
needed  basis  for  social  science.  In  1543  Copernicus 
launched  his  great  work  setting  forth  the  heliocentric 
theory  of  the  solar  system,  and  in  due  time  was  followed 
by  a  host  of  others  who  established  the  science  of  astron- 
omy on  a  firm  mathematical  basis.  The  Seventeenth  Cen- 
tury, greatly  aided  by  the  invention  of  numerous  scientific 
instruments,  gave  not  only  Newton's  discoveries  in  mathe- 
matics and  gravitation,  but  also  many  scientific  hypotheses 

"Written  in  opposition  to  the  cheerful  optimism  of  such  books 
as  Godwin's  Political  Justice. 


SOCIAL  TEACHINGS  OF  EARLIER  CENTURIES    37 

respecting  light,  heat,  electricity,  and  ether  which  unitedly 
became  the  basis  for  the  rapidly  developing  science  of 
physics.  In  that  century  also  Harvey  set  forth  his  dem- 
onstration of  the  circulation  of  the  blood,  thereby  stimu- 
lating studies  in  anatomy  and  medicine.  In  1662  the 
Royal  Society  of  London  for  the  advancement  of  science 
was  granted  its  first  charter,  an  organization  suggested 
probably  by  the  "House  of  Salomon"  in  Bacon's  New 
Atlantis. 

The  Eighteenth  Century  definitely  established  on  an 
inductive  basis  the  science  of  chemistry,  the  alchemy  of 
former  centuries,  and  also  gave  those  basal  studies  in 
botany  and  zoology  that  found  their  culmination  in  the 
biological  sciences  of  the  Darwinian  era.  Psychology  long 
remained  in  the  "metaphysical"  stage,  but  Comte  thought 
he  saw  signs  of  change  in  the  abortive  science  of  phren- 
ology, a  sort  of  physiological  psychology.  Evolution  sup- 
plied a  genetic  psychology,  as  voiced,  for  example,  by 
Spencer,  and  within  the  last  twenty-five  years  Freudian 
psychology  and  behavioristic  methods  have  given  "tone" 
to  the  newer  psychology,  the  latter  emphasizing  the 
physiological  basis  of  mind  in  the  nervous  system. 

Lacking  a  scientific  basis  in  biology  and  psychology, 
sociology,  as  already  indicated,  long  remained  a  series  of 
visionary  speculations,  but  in  the  second  quarter  of  the 
Nineteenth  Century  Comte  was  able  to  find  in  the  scientific 
knowledge  of  his  day  a  sufficient  foundation  on  which  to 
establish  his  famous  system  of  positivistic  philosophy  and 
polity. 


^  rfO"'^'"'^ 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  SOCIAL  SCIENCE 

Common  Sense  Philosophizing. — Ever>'  person  who 
thinks  at  all  is  likely  to  generalize  his  experiences  and  to 
develop  rules  of  conduct  suitable  to  the  usual  happenings 
of  his  daily  life.  Occasionally  he  philosophizes  a  little  by 
comparing  somewhat  his  own  conclusions  with  those  of 
his  fellows,  seeking  thereby  to  reach  wiser  conclusions 
based  on  a  wider  common  experience.  He  may  even  seek 
to  classify  his  generalizations  by  grouping  his  experiences 
under  headings  such  as  business  and  politics,  family  af- 
fairs, and  religion.  In  all  this  he  is  unconsciously  work- 
ing out  a  sort  of  social  science  based  on  his  study  of  the 
round  of  his  daily  experiences.  In  so  doing  his  familiar- 
ity with  the  field  of  his  observations  may  enable  him  with 
reasonable  intelligence  to  arrive  at  quite  accurate  conclu- 
sions as  a  foundation  for  his  plans  for  the  future. 

Yet  his  ability  to  do  this  successfully  within  his  own 
daily  routine  would  not  necessarily  fit  him  to  make  easily 
correct  decisions  within  larger  fields,  such  as,  for  exam- 
ple, in  the  formulation  of  suggestions  in  respect  to  a  mu- 
nicipal or  national  policy.  For  such  tasks  one  needs 
large  and  wide  experience  and  much  more  thoughtful  con- 
sideration in  respect  to  the  conclusions  that  properly 
might  be  based  on  this.  Equally  important,  perhaps,  is 
the  need  of  a  definite  point  of  view,  a  well  defined  method 
of  approach  to  the  problem  under  consideration,  and  the 

38 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  SOCIAL  SCIENCE  39 

ability  to  survey  clearly  and  dispassionately  the  whole 
field  of  phenomena  to  be  covered.  Lacking  this  there  is 
likely  to  be  a  sort  of  vagueness  or  indefiniteness  about  the 
whole  study.  Things  do  not  fit  into  their  places.  Stress 
is  placed  on  unimportant  matters  to  the  neglect  of  funda- 
mentals, so  that  onesided  conclusions  are  developed  re- 
sulting in  the  unbalanced  radicalism  and  wild  panaceas, 
so  characteristic  of  untrained  and  unregulated  thinking. 
Even  if  the  thought  processes  are  carried  out  logically  and 
carefully,  as  often  prove  to  be  the  case,  yet  if  one's  ex- 
periences be  unduly  limited  or  if  interpretations  start  from 
incorrect  suppositions,  the  very  logic  of  the  argument  may 
result  in  teachings  all  the  more  dangerous,  because  they 
seem  to  be  valid  deductions  properly  drawn  from  the 
facts  under  consideration. 

Need  for  a  Science  of  Society. — Now  it  is  against 
such  dangers  in  social  theories  that  a  science  of  sociology 
is  needed.  From  time  immemorial,  during  thousands  of 
years  of  past  human  history,  men  have  conned  over  in 
their  minds  their  daily  experiences  and  have  reflected  on 
the  larger  fields  of  social  phenomena  about  them  and  the 
many  mysteries  of  nature  pressing  for  solution,  and  as 
best  they  could  they  reasoned  out  conclusions,  which 
slowly  became  maxims  for  conduct,  theories  of  right 
and  justice,  religious  and  philosophical  teachings,  and  in- 
cipient truths  of  future  sciences.  Yet  to  a  quite  large 
extent,  especially  in  the  wider  rounds  of  human  experi- 
ence, they  reached  conclusions  filled  with  error,  for  the 
reason  that  civilization  had  not  developed  sufficient 
knowledge  and  methods  of  reasoning,  so  as  to  enable 
thinkers  in  their  research  to  attain  the  truth. 

In  the  surviving  literature  of  ancient  peoples,  in  the 
classical  learning  of  Greece  and  Rome,   the  keen  dia- 


40  SOCIOLOGY 

lectics  of  early  medi3evalism,the  humanistic  studies  of  the 
Renaissance,  and  the  social  movements  of  the  religious  ref- 
ormations and  political  revolutions,  there  are  wonder- 
fully fine  studies  of  social  phenomena,  rich  in  wise  teach- 
ing and  stimulating  to  the  social  imagination.  But  some- 
how they  seem  to  lack  perspective ;  they  get  nowhere  and 
they  seem  to  have  no  practical  application  to  conditions 
outside  of  their  own  times,  if  even  then.  Yet  when  the 
modern  centuries  came  with  their  emphasis  upon  science 
and  scientific  methods,  and  the  great  mind  of  Auguste 
Comte  in  the  Nineteenth  Century  saw  that  even  social 
phenomena  might  be  studied  from  a  scientific  point  of 
view  and  by  the  inductive  method,  then  there  came,  as 
it  were,  a  sort  of  crystallization  of  hitherto  disjointed  and 
incoherent  social  teaching  that  permitted  henceforth  the 
formulation  of  a  definite  science  of  sociology. 

Comte's  Sociology. — It  is  not  that  Comte  in  his  great 
treatises  on  the  Positive  Philosophy  and  the  Positive  Pol- 
ity said  the  last  word  in  sociology.  On  the  contrary, 
much  that  he  said  and  thought  has  long  been  rendered 
obsolete  by  the  rapid  changes  of  human  civilization  since 
his  day.  It  is  simply  and  solely  the  fact  that  he  gave 
students  a  real  viewpoint,  a  proper  method  of  study,  and 
indicated  the  broad  lines  along  which  future  studies 
should  be  made.  Interesting,  for  example,  as  are  his 
summaries  of  the  sciences  and  his  lengthy  chapters  on 
the  "dynamic"  development  of  human  society,  they  are 
rarely  read  in  these  days  since  the  broadening  of  human 
knowledge  during  the  last  sixty  years  permit  of  better 
discussions  than  his.  On  the  other  hand  he  gave  a  de- 
cidedly useful  hypothesis  in  his  three-stage  theory  of  in- 
tellectual development,  already  mentioned.  Again,  in 
his  remarkable  discussion  of  the  classification  of  sciences 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  SOCIAL  SCIENCE  41 

he  showed  the  imity  of  all  scientific  knowledge  and  the 
relationship,  or  filiation,  of  the  several  sciences.  These 
philosophical  contributions  are  unquestionably  of  great 
value.  In  his  series  of  sciences^  sociology  is  included  as 
a  definite  scientific  study  to  be  pursued  and  developed  by 
the  use  of  scientific  methods.  This  new  science,  further- 
more, is  shown  to  be  based  directly  on  biology  and  psy- 
chology (transcendental  biolog}^),  although  of  course  it 
has  its  own  peculiar  field  of  study.  His  psychological 
emphasis  was  placed  on  the  affections,  the  human  feel- 
ings, and  emotions,  as  the  energizing  aspect  of  the  mind, 
guided  and  directed  by  the  intellect  reasoning  out  con- 
clusions in  respect  to  social  policy,  an  idea  more  fully 
developed  later  by  Lester  F.  Ward.  The  whole  process 
becomes  what  he  called  "prevision,"  or  the  ability  to  fore- 
see on  the  basis  of  the  known,  like  the  prophecies  of  an 
astronomer,  for  example,  who  predicts  eclipses  from  his 
mathematical  knowledge  of  the  movements  of  the  heav- 
enly bodies.  Comte  further  stressed  tlie  point  that  so- 
cial phenomena,  in  addition  to  the  usual  methods  of  sci- 
entific study,  demanded  an  additional  method,  namely, 
the  historical,  since,  he  argued,  no  field  of  social  phe- 
nomena can  properly  be  known  unless  it  be  studied  as  a 
development  from  its  beginnings  to  its  consummation 
in  the  present  time.  This  he  called  the  dynamic  aspect 
of  sociology  in  contrast  to  the  static.  Again,  he  sought 
to  show  how  Humanity,  past,  present,  and  future,  might 
be  considered  collectively  as  a  great  organism,  made  up 
not  necessarily  of  all  human  beings,  but  of  those  only  who 
made  achievements  that  added  to  the  sum  total  of  human 
knowledge  and  happiness.  This  human  society  in  its  ac- 
tivity he  then  analyzed  in  the  Polity  as  economic,  ethical 
*  See  Chapter  V. 


42  SOCIOLOGY 

and  political,  educational,  aesthetic,  intellectual,  and  re- 
ligious, and  devoted  also  a  chapter  to  the  place  of  woman 
in  a  rightly  socialized  society.  Such  a  conception  of  so- 
ciety as  that  indicated  in  his  theory  of  perfected  humanity 
he  thought  might  even  be  considered  as  worthy  of  wor- 
ship, since  it  would  embody  in  itself  the  worthiest  thought 
and  action  of  human  kind  and  the  highest  aspirations  of 
the  human  heart. 

In  Comte's  discussion  of  these  matters  he  often  dog- 
matizes overmuch  and  reaches  many  rash  conclusions 
owing  to  his  static  notion  of  civilization,  since  the  Dar- 
winian-Spencerian  evolutionary  point  of  view  had  not 
then  been  proclaimed,  nor  was  there  in  his  day  that  wide 
knowledge  of  human  development  and  of  complex  social 
institutions  which  has  come  to  light  through  later  studies. 
The  value  of  his  works,  therefore,  is  not,  as  was  said  be- 
fore, in  his  actual  studies  of  social  conditions,  but 
rather  in  his  scientific  point  of  view,  his  synthetic  survey 
of  the  entire  field  of  scientific  and  sociological  knowl- 
edge, his  insight  into  the  really  important  fields  of  social 
phenomena,  and  his  belief  in  the  possibility  of  a  progress 
based  on  an  accurate  comprehension  of  social  conditions 
as  they  really  are,  and  without  dogmatic  assumptions 
based  on  supernaturalism  or  metaphysics. 

After  Comte  had  thus  blazed  the  way  for  a  real  science 
of  social  phenomena,  others  since  his  time  have  made  im- 
provements in  the  general  plan  he  set  forth  and  newer 
teachings  of  the  basal  science  of  sociology  have  been  em- 
phasized. Moreover,  many  studies  of  widely  varying 
sorts  have  been  made  so  that  sociological  knowledge  has 
made  rapid  strides  forward  since  the  publication  of  his 
works.  Yet  because  of  what  he  did  he  has  rightly  been 
called  the  Father  of  Sociology,  a  title  that  likely  will 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  SOCIAL  SCIENCE  43 

permanently   remain   his   by   general   consent,   even   of 
those  who  are  not  Comtean  in  their  conclusions. 

Social  Points  of  View. — There  is,  finally,  another 
point  of  view  that  may  need  to  be  emphasized.  Atten- 
tion has  been  called  to  the  fact  that  social  studies  of  all 
sorts  have  been  made  for  thousands  of  years,  but  that 
these  in  themselves  had  no  scientific  value  for  want  of  a 
proper  method  and  point  of  view,  yet  that,  when  once 
such  a  point  of  view  and  method  are  supplied  through 
the  rise  of  scientific  sociology,  at  once  ancient  and  me- 
diaeval studies  become  illuminated  and  acquire  their  true 
meaning.  Just  as  the  atomical  and  evolutionary  teach- 
ings of  Democritus  and  Epicurus,  so  nobly  voiced  in  the 
De  Natiira  Rcrum  of  Lucretius,  acquired  meaning  only 
in  the  Nineteenth  Century  with  the  rise  of  the  sciences, 
so  the  wealth  of  former  social  speculation,  so  far  as  it 
has  come  down  to  us,  now  furnishes  rich  and  abundant 
fields  for  social  inquiry.  Thus,  the  sociologist  is  not  com- 
pelled to  devote  himself  merely  to  the  social  investiga- 
tions of  the  last  fifty  or  sixty  years,  but  has  at  his  disposal 
the  wealth  of  social  theorizing  hidden  away  in  ancient  re- 
ligions and  philosophies  and  in  the  institutions  of  former 
civilizations.  Sociology,  therefore,  is  not  to  be  consid- 
ered merely  as  an  upstart  science  in  the  process  of  for- 
mation, since  the  material  it  uses  is  as  old  as  human  rec- 
ords of  thought  and  can  now  be  more  intelligently  com- 
prehended than  ever  before.  By  the  use  of  its  methods 
and  teaching  it  furnishes  to  the  other  sciences  and  dis- 
ciplines, like  that  of  history  for  example,  a  method,  a 
viewpoint,  and  an  interpretation  that  already  are  throw- 
ing into  the  discard  studies  based  on  old-fashioned  points 
of  view.  Practically  every  study  of  any  tangible  human 
importance  in  these  days  is  approached  by  modern  stu- 


44  SOCIOLOGY 

dents  with  some  attempt  at  least  to  satisfy  a  demand  for 
sociological  interpretations,  so  as  to  show  the  bearing  of 
each  study  on  human  welfare  and  social  progress.  For, 
admittedly,  by  common  agreement  the  problem  of  social 
betterment  is  to-day  the  most  important  problem  facing 
civilization  and  it  demands  a  scientific  solution  in  which 
all  the  factors  of  social  life  are  to  be  taken  into  account. 
Social  Causation. — This  modern  emphasis  on  human 
progress  is  primarily  due  to  the  evolutionary  theory  and 
to  the  stress  on  the  causes  and  processes  underlying  social 
laws.  Now  a  social  law  is  a  general  statement  of  the  se- 
quence of  uniform  social  phenomena,  but  a  principle,  by 
contrast,  is  the  scientific  explanation  of  a  given  law,  so 
that  the  search  for  principles  is  fundamental.  The  real 
task  of  sociology  is  to  explain.  Right  explanations  are 
basal  in  any  system  of  sociological  teachings.  If  one 
knows  quite  fully  by  observation  and  comparison  a  field 
of  social  phenomena,  and  is  familiar  with  the  law  of  its 
development  or  evolution,  and  in  addition,  comprehends 
the  principles  underlying  such  phenomena,  he  would  then 
be  prepared  to  go  one  step  further  and  to  show  how  such 
principles  may  be  applied  in  studies  of  social  conditions, 
so  as  to  produce  modifications  in  these  in  any  desired 
direction.  Like  the  formulae  of  chemistry,  certain  com- 
binations under  certain  conditions  should  produce  cer- 
tain results.  Changed  combinations  under  changed  con- 
ditions would  produce  other  results.  When  in  any  science 
desired  results  can  invariably  be  attained  at  the  will  of  the 
scientist  he  has  reached  the  acme  of  scientific  accuracy. 
Now  it  is  entirely  possible  that  a  limited  field  of  com- 
paratively simple  social  phenomena  can  be  comprehended 
in  its  completeness.  On  the  other  hand,  obviously  if  one 
attempted  to  cover  in  one  study  the  entire  field  of  social 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  SOCIAL  SCIENCE  45 

phenomena  in  all  lands  and  times  his  task  would  prove 
impossible,  owing  to  the  complexity  and  the  mass  of  ma- 
terial to  be  studied.  To-day,  therefore,  the  whole  field 
of  social  phenomena  is  highly  differentiated  and  each 
segment  is  studied  by  itself,  often  from  many  points  of 
view,  so  that  in  process  of  time  there  should  be  secured 
sufficient  material  in  the  form  of  conclusions  to  form  the 
basis  of  study  for  a  synthetic  student  who  can  think 
things  together  and  see  the  higher  generalizations  and 
principles  of  social  phenomena. 

Sociology  a  Synthetic  Science. — In  one  sense  such 
a  synthetic  student  will  be  a  social  philosopher  in  that 
he  would  unite  into  a  harmonious  whole  parts  apparently 
unconnected.  But  there  is  still  a  higher  sense  in  which 
this  term  can  be  used.  There  are  other  fields  of  phe- 
nomena not  primarily  social,  each  of  which  is  the  realm 
of  a  distinct  science.  Yet  such  sciences,  as  astronomy, 
physics,  or  chemistry,  for  instance,  really  contain  in  their 
teachings  information  of  great  importance  for  sociologi- 
cal purposes.  The  astronomical  explanation  of  comets 
and  of  the  movements  of  other  heavenly  bodies  freed 
human  beings  from  a  heavy  load  of  superstition,  since 
they  no  longer  dread  comets  as  portents  of  disaster  nor 
believe  that  the  sun,  moon,  or  stars  are  supernatural  be- 
ings influencing  human  destiny.  Physics  and  chemistry 
also  now  explain  scientifically  many  phenomena  formerly 
attributed  to  satanic  agencies  and  at  the  same  time  they 
powerfully  aid  man  in  his  conquest  of  the  forces  of  na- 
ture. In  consequence,  material  civilization  with  its  in- 
ventions and  scientific  discoveries  is  progressing  by  leaps 
and  bounds.  The  basal  sciences  of  sociology  also,  biology 
and  psychology,  are  naturally  permeated  with  teachings 
that  illuminate  the  meaning  of  social  phenomena.     For 


46  SOCIOLOGY 

these  reasons  also  there  is  need  of  synthetic  students  who 
by  their  comprehension  of  the  laws  and  principles  of  these 
great  sciences  may  be  able  to  show  applications  of  them, 
so  as  tO'  eliminate,  to  some  extent  at  least,  the  evils  of  life 
and  to  strengthen  whatever  is  worth  while  in  human  ex- 
perience. 

Finally  also,  if  one  can  synthesize  into  a  common  teach- 
ing the  generalizations  of  these  sciences  with  the  laws 
and  principles  of  the  social  sciences,  he  again  may  lay 
claim  to  the  title  of  synthetic  philosopher,  even  though 
one  might  rightly  argue  that  such  syntheses  represent 
simply  the  highest  possible  stage  of  sociological  study, 
and  therefore  are  preferably  scientific  rather  than  phil- 
osophical. Obviously,  the  study  is  scientific  if  done  by 
means  of  scientific  methods,  but  in  its  reach  after  higher 
and  finally  the  highest  generalizations  there  is  a  sort  of 
philosophic  aspect  to  the  study  needed,  so  as  to  see  that 
each  part  finds  its  proper  place  in  the  scheme  of  things 
and  that  the  sciences  are  welded  together  into  the  science 
of  sciences. 

Vagueness  of  the  Term  "Sociology." — Now  the  gen- 
eral recognition  of  the  growing  importance  of  the  so- 
ciological viewpoint  is  one  reason  why  the  term  "so- 
ciology" has  not  yet  won  in  popular  vocabulary  any  defi- 
nite meaning.  Comte,  who  first  used  the  word  "sociol- 
ogy," meant  by  it  the  study  of  the  laws  underlying  social 
phenomena.  Causation  to  him  was  a  matter  of  small 
importance,  since  real  causes,  he  thought,  could  not  be 
ascertained.  Obviously  the  study  of  laws  implies  a  study 
of  concrete  phenomena,  yet  this  was  to  be  merely  the 
means  of  getting  at  the  really  important  sociological  law 
or  laws  underlying  phenomena.  But  the  field  of  study 
suggested  and  partly  covered  by  Comte  was  so  broad 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  SOCIAL  SCIENCE  47 

and  comprehensive,  requiring  a  synthetic  mind  capable 
at  the  same  time  of  close  analysis,  that  few  have  ven- 
tured rashly  to  attempt  to  master  so  wide  a  field  of  study, 
especially  since  it  is  continually  broadening  through  later 
investigations.  Succeeding  writers,  consequently,  have 
tended  to  stress  some  particular  aspect  or  division  of  the 
whole  sociological  field,  and  each  naturally  called  his 
study  "sociology."  For  this  reason  sociology  has  almost 
as  many  definitions  as  there  are  writers,  and  since  some 
of  these  are  of  necessity  superficial  or  ill  balanced,  so- 
ciology is  occasionally  ridiculed  by  mock  definitions,  such 
as  "sociology  is  the  science  that  seeks  to  elaborate  the 
obvious,"  "the  rendering  of  familiar  things  into  unfa- 
milar  words  .  .  .  the  translation  of  the  obvious  by  the 
incomprehensible."  Some  writers,  again,  argue  that  any 
study  at  all,  treated  from  a  sociological  standpoint,  may 
properly  be  called  sociology,  a  definition  that  will  surely 
leave  little  to  be  desired  from  the  standpoint  of  inclusive- 
ness. 

Others  would  prefer  to  consider  sociology  proper  as  the 
statical  study  of  social  phenomena  properly  classified, 
or  of  social  institutions,  great  and  small.  Others  again 
prefer  to  call  sociology  the  study  and  investigation  of 
what  may  be  considered  as  the  degenerate  or  backward 
aspects  of  social  life.  Yet  others  prefer  to  define  sociol- 
ogy as  an  attempt  to  trace  historically  the  growth  or  de- 
velopment of  society  and  its  institutions,  or,  as  a  varia- 
tion, the  study  of  the  rise  and  fall  of  social  groups,  such 
as  for  example  economic  classes,  nations,  or  civilizations. 
Again  socialism  and  similar  isms  are  often  confused  one 
with  the  other  or  with  sociology,  as  for  instance  when  a 
newspaper  editorial  once  denounced  Governor  Altgeld  of 
Illinois  as  "not  only  a  socialist  but  also  an  anarchist  and 


48  SOCIOLOGY 

a  communist,"  or  a  similar  newspaper  comment  to  the 
effect  that  all  sociologists  are  either  socialists  or  anar- 
chists. 

Moreover  In  social  studies  the  point  of  view  may  be 
sociological  and  the  methods  used  be  those  demanded  by 
Comte,  namely,  observation,  comparison,  the  study  of 
social  experimentation  and  the  history  or  development  of 
the  field  under  discussion,  but  they  are  not  sociological 
in  the  sense  that  Comte  intended,  since  they  confine 
themselves  to  the  study  of  concrete  phenomena  ignoring 
the  notion  of  law.  Others,  more  nearly  In  Comtean  fash- 
ion, seek  to  show  the  relation  of  sociology  to  other  sci- 
ences, especially  to  its  basal  sciences  biology  and  psy- 
chology, and  built  up  elaborate  systems  of  teaching,  bi- 
ological or  psychological  in  kind,  with  applications  of 
these  to  social  phenomena.  Indeed,  the  possibilities  of 
variation  in  sociology  seem  almost  infinite,  so  that,  like 
a  chameleon,  the  word  seems  to  undergo  a  modification  of 
definition  whenever  a  new  emphasis  arises  in  society. 

The  Tasks  of  Sociology. — Under  such  circumstances 
it  Is  hardly  worth  while  to  give  a  formal  and  set  defini- 
tion of  sociology,  with  the  implication  that  all  sociological 
studies  not  included  under  this  are  barred  from  considera- 
tion. Preferably  the  term  "social  science"  is  the  one  that 
should  be  used  to  cover  the  entire  field  of  social  investi- 
gation. Including  the  many  aspects  of  social  reforms 
when  these  are  approached  by  sociological  methods. ,  In 
that  case,  by  contrast,  the  term  sociology  should  be  used 
to  designate  a  general  science  coordinate  with  biology 
and  psychology,  Its  nearest  kin,  aiming  to  synthesize 
Into  law  and  principle  the  many  teachings  derived  from 
concrete  social  studies.  The  accomplishment,  however, 
of  such  a  task  lies  far  in  the  future,  since  many  years 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  SOCIAL  SCIENCE  49 

must  elapse  before  even  a  close  approximation  to  such 
an  abstract  science  can  be  made.  For  this  reason  one 
must  cheerfully  admit  that  the  preliminary  task  of  so- 
ciology must  be  much  more  precise  and  concrete.  The 
science  must  seek  to  make  a  complete  survey  of  social 
conditions  and  problems  and  to  work  out  empirically  im- 
provements in  the  situation.  It  must  study  as  completely 
as  possible  the  processes  in  the  development  of  social 
groups  and  institutions.  But,  in  order  to  do  so  intelli- 
gently, there  is  necessarily  involved  an  analysis  of  the 
social  order,  structure,  or  organization  of  society,  as 
well  as  a  study  of  the  social  forces  or  psychic  factors 
at  work  and  their  resultant  social  functioning  or  activi- 
ties under  varying  conditions  of  environment.  Finally, 
it  must  work  out  applications  of  these  teachings  to  pre- 
sent situations,  thereby  developing  the  applied  science  of 
sociology. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  SCIENCE  OF  SOCIOLOGY 

Sociology  and  Social  Progress. — The  study  of  so- 
ciology is  becoming  increasingly  important  because  of 
the  hope  that  this  new  science,  one  of  the  "newer  hu- 
manities," may  prove  useful  as  a  guide  in  the  furtherance 
of  individual  and  social  welfare.  For  many  ages  proph- 
ets of  civilization  dreamed  of  a  coming  Utopia,  but  they 
died  without  sight  of  the  promised  land.  In  times  of 
revolution  it  almost  seemed  as  though  the  millennium 
were  near  at  hand,  but  the  anticipated  paradise  proved  to 
be  a  mirage  and  faded  away  as  darkness  returned.  At 
the  beginning  of  the  Nineteenth  Century,  under  the  in- 
fluence of  scientific  optimism,  men's  pulses  once  again 
began  to  quicken;  reforms,  Utopias,  and  panaceas  for  all 
social  evils  came  in  quick  succession  from  the  pens  of 
ardent  reformers,  the  usual  heralds  of  a  forward  move- 
ment in  civilization.  In  the  midst  of  this  century  Comte 
launched  the  new  science  of  sociology  and  sought  to  show 
how  it  might  work  out  the  laws  of  social  order  and  prog- 
ress and  become  a  guide  in  the  movement  for  social  bet- 
terment. Paraphrasing  a  famous  sentence  from  Rous- 
seau,^ sociology  would  assert  that  men  have  too  long  been 
in  bondage  to  custom  and  tradition,  but  that  henceforth 
they  may  learn  how  to  become  free  and  through  "pre- 

^  Social  Contract,  Chap.  I. 

50 


THE  SCIENCE  OF  SOCIOLOGY  51 

vision"  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  freedom.  Whether  this 
science  can  ever  satisfy  the  expectations  it  arouses  is 
still  an  open  question,  but  at  any  rate  it  should  remain 
open  until  its  students  have  had  a  suitable  opportunity  to 
show  the  possibilities  inherent  in  the  study.  Already,  if 
one  reads  aright  the  trend  of  the  times,  the  point  of  view 
of  sociology  has  struck  deep  into  the  thought  of  the  age, 
and  the  results  of  its  teachings,  imperfect  though  they 
are,  have  become  manifest  in  the  constructive  policies  so 
rapidly  developing  in  social  reform. 

Relativity  of  Knowledge. — Comte,  in  his  exposi- 
tion of  the  field  of  sociology,  emphasized  as  a  fundamen- 
tal condition  for  progress  the  importance  of  knowledge, 
and  sought  to  show  that,  since  the  mind  of  man  is  finite 
and  the  earth  is  a  mere  atom  in  the  universe,  human 
knowledge  must  always  remain  defective  or  relative,  so 
that  complete  or  absolute  knowledge,  humanly  speaking, 
is  impossible.  Comparatively  little,  for  instance,  can  ever 
be  known  of  the  universe  as  a  whole.  Knowledge  of  it, 
in  the  main,  will  be  bounded  by  the  solar  system,  since 
little  information  of  anything  beyond  this  can  be  obtained 
owing  to  the  natural  limitations  of  human  mentality. 
Yet,  Comte  argued,  by  careful  observation  and  reflection 
there  may  be  collected  a  mass  of  information,  from  which 
can  be  obtained  broad  generalizations.  These  when  tested 
by  experience  form  the  basis  on  which  is  slowly  built  up 
a  series  of  great  sciences,  coordinated  in  their  fundamen- 
tal laws,  but  differentiated  in  their  details  through  empha- 
sis on  different  fields  of  phenomena.  Following  this  ar- 
gument he  then  advanced  his  famous  classification  of 
sciences,  a  classification  rejected  by  many  critics,  but 
which  Professor  Lester  F.  Ward  characterized  as  "the 


52  SOCIOLOGY 

most  sublime,  interesting,  and  important  idea  of  the  last 
century,"  ^ 

Classification  of  the  Sciences. — Much  of  the  objec- 
tion arises  because  Comte's  critics  fail  to  grasp  his  point 
of  view.  He  would,  in  the  first  place,  ignore  all  knowl- 
edge not  susceptible  of  verification,  i.e.,  not  positive  or 
scientifically  demonstrable,  and  would,  in  the  second 
place,  have  the  great  basal  sciences  composed  of  the  gen- 
eralizations and  laws  underlying  the  phenomenal  and 
the  concrete. 

In  settling  on  the  order  of  the  sciences,  he  used  mathe- 
matics, our  most  positive  and  exact  knowledge,  as  a  norm 
or  standard  to  determine  the  relative  positlvity  of  the  sev- 
eral sciences.  Grouped  in  the  order  of  their  mathematical 
exactness  there  follow  in  the  series  the  great  classes  of 
abstract  laws  which  Comte  would  designate  as  the  sci- 
ences of  astronomy,  physics,  chemistry,  biology,  and  so- 
ciology. Psychology,  which  Comte  treated  as  part  of 
biology,  Herbert  Spencer  and  Lester  F.  Ward  both  place 
as  a  separate  science  between  biology  and  sociology. 
Comte,  In  his  later  teachings,  and  Spencer,  in  his  scheme 
of  scientific  classification,  added  ethics  as  a  final  science 
in  the  series,  but  Ward  shows  that  this  is  practically  iden- 
tical with  what  he  calls  "applied"  sociology.^  Each  ab- 
stract science,  he  argues,  may  be  considered  under  the  as- 
pect of  a  pure  and  of  an  applied  science.  The  abstract 
science  of  sociology,  therefore,  may  be  divided  into  pure 
and  applied  sociology,  the  latter  of  which  is  for  all  pur- 
poses the  science  of  ethics  as  given  by  Comte  and  Spen- 
cer. Accepting  as  correct  this  explanation  of  Ward's, 
all  the  numerous  concrete  sciences  of  human  knowledge 

'Brown  [Univ.]  Daily  Herald,  April  20,  1909. 
'  See  Ward's  Applied  Sociology,  p.  317. 


THE  SCIENCE  OF  SOCIOLOGY  53 

may  be  grouped  under  these  six  heads,  and  if  logically  ar- 
ranged would  thus  show  the  fundamental  unity  of  knowl- 
edge :  * 

Astronomy 

Mathematics,       rvJ^^^^ 

used  as  standard    ,-,.  ,         ^ 

of  positivity         ^       °-', 

Psychology 

Sociology 

This  order  also  shows  the  filiation,  or  relationship,  of 
the  sciences,  for  the  broad  generalizations  of  each  science 
in  the  series  become  the  basis  for  the  next  following  sci- 
ence, which  adds  the  laws  deduced  from  the  study  of  a 
specialized,  yet  kindred,  branch  of  knowledge.  Thus, 
each  of  the  later  sciences  springs  from  and  is  differen- 
tiated from  its  predecessor,  is  dependent  on  all  those  that 
precede  it,  and  is,  necessarily,  more  complex,  and  less 
mathematically  exact.  As  each  of  the  later  sciences  has 
its  own  special  field,  it  is  not  a  mere  subdivision  of  its 
basal  science  or  sciences,  but  is  independent  within  its 
own  proper  sphere.  Under  such  an  arrangement,  sci- 
ences may  be  said  to  be  "coordinated,"  and  to  be  grouped 
(i)  in  the  order  of  their  mathematical  exactness,  or  (2) 
in  the  order  of  their  relationship,  or  "filiation,"  ^  or  (3) 
in  the  order  of  their  complexity. 

Relative  Utility  of  the  Sciences. — This  series  em- 

*For  discussions  of  the  classification  of  the  sciences,  see  Comte, 
Cours  de  philosophic  positive,  vol.  i,  Chaps.  I  and  II;  H.  Spencer, 
The  Classificdtion  of  the  Sciences;  L.  F.  Ward,  Outlines  of  Sociol- 
ogy, Part  I,  and  Pnre  Sociology,  Chap.  V,  pp.  65-71 ;  Karl  Pearson, 
A  Grammar  of  Science,  Chap.  XII;  F.  H.  Giddings,  Principles  of 
Sociology,  Chap.  II,  pp.  45-51;  English  Sociological  Papers,  numer- 
ous articles  in  series,  1905-1907;  Levy-Bruhl,  The  Philosophy  of 
Comte,  Chap.  Ill,  et  seq. 

'  See  Ward's  Pure  Sociology,  Chap.  V. 

\ 


54  SOCIOLOGY 

phasizes  also  from  a  sociological  standpoint  the  relative 
utility  of  the  sciences  to  man;  the  first  science,  astronomy, 
being  the  least,  and  sociology  the  most  useful.  For  it  is 
clearly  fundamentally  important  that  men  should  thor- 
oughly understand  the  laws  of  human  association  so  as 
to  comprehend  the  meaning  of  civilization  and  wisely  to 
guide  the  activities  and  ambitions  of  society.  For  prac- 
tical purposes  this  is,  by  far,  the  most  useful  knowl- 
edge mankind  can  possess.  Yet  in  order  to  attain  this 
knowledge,  the  psychological  group  of  sciences  must,  of 
course,  be  prepared  to  explain  the  phenomena  of  mind, 
and  must  be  in  harmony  with  the  teaching  of  biology 
about  life,  which  in  its  turn  must  ultimately  harmonize 
with  the  conclusion  of  the  preceding  sciences  that  fur- 
nish data  respecting  the  physical  basis  for  organic  life. 
Utility,  of  course,  implies  not  merely  material  utility 
but  includes  also  spiritual  and  intellectual  enlightenment 
through  the  increase  of  truth  and  the  displacement  of 
error.  In  this  sense  each  of  the  basal  sciences  may  be 
looked  on  as  a  reservoir  of  information  to  be  utilized 
in  due  time  for  human  uplift.  From  this  same  viewpoint 
sociology  may  be  considered  as  a  science  of  sciences, 
since  it  incorporates  into  itself  all  information  of  human 
interest  gathered  by  the  other  sciences.  Comte  stressed 
this  point  of  view,  even  arguing  that  the  other  sciences 
should  consider  themselves  subordinate  to  sociology  as 
the  science  inclusive  of  all  information  in  them  worthy 
of  human  study.  One  may,  however,  grant  that  sociology 
is  anthropocentric,  absorbing  into  itself  all  knowledge 
useful  to  man,  and  yet  prefer  to  think  of  a  larger  science 
of  sciences  broadly  inclusive  of  all  the  sciences  in  the 
series,  combining  into  itself  not  merely  a  certain  sort 
of  knowledge,  the  social,  but  rather,  as  already  men- 


THE  SCIENCE  OF  SOCIOLOGY  55 

tioned,  the  laws  and  principles  fundamental  to  all  knowl- 
edge. 

From  the  standpoint  of  a  philosophy  of  the  universe, 
however,  cosmic  laws  are  logically  vastly  more  important 
than  the  activities  of  human  beings  on  this  relatively  in- 
significant planet,  so  that  to  such  a  philosopher  the  en- 
tire mass  of  sociological  study  might  properly  be  rele- 
gated to  a  footnote  at  the  end  of  a  chapter.  But  from 
the  human  standpoint  the  emphasis  is  reversed,  since  the 
cosmic  is  beyond  our  control,  while  the  human  and  the 
social  are  susceptible  of  profound  modification.  Man  can- 
not change  the  solar  system,  but  he  can  modify,  in  fun- 
damental ways,  the  social  organization  and  its  activities, 
and  for  that  reason  he  must  understand  the  laws  of  hu- 
man association,  so  as  to  be  able  gradually  to  banish 
social  handicaps  and  to  expedite  progress. 

This  simple  arrangement  of  the  sciences  does  not  imply 
that  they  became  known  historically  in  this  order,  for 
vague  theorizing  about  all  of  them  can  be  found  far  back 
in  the  history  of  human  thought.  The  assertion  is  rather 
that  the  simplest  science  with  the  broadest  cosmic  or  uni- 
versal generalizations  comes  first  in  natural  order,  and 
that  each  subsequent  science  is  more  complex,  its  prin- 
ciples are  less  definitely  known,  and  the  possibility  of 
its  becoming  mathematically  exact  is  more  and  more  re- 
mote as  the  end  of  the  series  is  approached.  Yet  the  aim 
of  all  scientific  study  is  to  add  to  our  knowledge  year  by 
year,  and  to  discover  new  principles,  new  laws,  new 
generalizations,  so  that,  as  the  far  distant  goal  of  scientific 
attainment,  this  series  of  basal  abstract  sciences  will  be 
made  exact,  as  far  as  that  is  possible  to  the  human  mind 
with  its  limitations,  and  all  knowledge  will  ultimately  be 
seen  to  be  unified  into  a  sort  of  "synthetic  philosophy." 


56  SOCIOLOGY 

This  movement  from  the  unknown  to  the  known,  is 
well  illustrated  in  traditions  of  such  early  studies  as  as- 
tronomy and  chemistry.  These  were  once  astrology  and 
alchemy,  and  were  popularly  identified  with  magic  and 
supernatural  agencies,  for  what  was  uncomprehended  and 
mysterious  used  to  be  thought  to  be  due  to  supernatural 
power.  Similarly,  many  aspects  of  biological  and  psy- 
chological phenomena  are  among  the  ignorant  supposed 
to  be  caused  by  ghostly  agencies  beyond  scientific  com- 
prehension. Sometimes  the  very  complexity  of  social 
studies  develops  in  the  student  a  sort  of  religious  atti- 
tude, for,  dealing  as  sociology  does  with  profound  moral 
problems,  it  arouses  an  idealism  that  easily  passes  into 
religious  fervor.  Socialism  to  the  socialist  is  a  sort  of 
religion,  and  Comte,  in  the  last  of  his  great  works,  ac- 
tually advocated  the  establishment  of  a  religion  in  which 
the  achievers  of  mankind  would  unitedly  be  considered 
as  worthy  of  worship.^ 

Three  Aspects  of  Science. — If  the  word  "science" 
is  to  be  used  to  cover  all  the  branches  of  knowledge  con- 
tained in  the  series,  obviously  the  meaning  of  that  term 
is  vague.  Generally  speaking,  the  word  is  used  in  three 
senses:  (i)  as  a  mass  of  systematized  or  methodized 
information;  (2)  as  a  collection  of  laws,  principles,  and 
generalizations  with  their  proper  explanations,  logically 
reasonable,  but  not  susceptible  of  mathematical  proof; 
(3)  as  an  interrelated  system  of  generalizations  which 
can  be  mathematically  demonstrated.  Obviously  no  sci- 
ence, not  even  mathematics,  has  become  exact  in  all  of  its 
aspects.  There  is  regularly  a  border  land  and  a  terra 
incognita,  where  the  van  or  advance  line  of  a  science  may 

*  In  his  Systcme  de  politique  positive.  For  an  interesting  ac- 
count of  the  English  Positivist  or  Comtean  Church,  see  Frederic 
Harrison,  The  Confessions  of  a  Layman. 


THE  SCIENCE  OF  SOCIOLOGY  57 

be  found.  Explorers  and  patrols  are  tentatively  mapping 
out  the  new  land  by  formulating-  hypotheses,  speculations, 
half  truths,  and  visionary  imaginations.  As  knowledge 
increases,  however,  system  and  order  appear,  the  false 
fades  away  before  truer  information  and  broad  paths  be- 
come known,  needing  only  the  surveyor's  chain  to  make 
them  exact.  Naturally  in  the  last  science  of  the  series, 
sociology,  exact  generalizations  are  least  possible.  There 
are  many  so-called  laws,  some  of  which  will  undoubtedly 
stand  the  test  of  time,  being  partly  built  up  from  statis- 
tics, the  chief  mathematical  tool  of  sociology,  but  for 
the  most  part  the  army  of  sociological  students  is  busily 
engaged  in  amassing  facts,  assorting  knowledge,  and 
formulating  hypotheses  to  be  verified  or  rejected  in  the 
light  of  later  knowledge. 

Need  of  Generalized  Knowledge. — From  the  stand- 
point of  sociology  it  is  desirable  that  every  intelligent 
person  of  liberal  education  should  understand  the  broad 
generalizations  of  all  the  sciences  in  the  series.  In  other 
words,  he  should,  as  a  prerequisite  for  the  study  of  so- 
ciology, understand  the  chief  teachings  of  astronomy, 
physics,  chemistry,  and  especially  of  biology  and  psy- 
chology. This  does  not  imply  that  he  must  know  all 
the  concrete  sciences  dependent  on  the  abstract  sciences. 
Such  knowledge  would  be  too  vast  for  any  one  mind. 
But  the  principles  and  laws  of  the  abstract  sciences  are 
comparatively  few  and  simple  of  comprehension.  They 
are  related,  filiated,  and  grow  naturally  one  from  another. 
Such  knowledge  in  the  mind  would  approximate  to  the 
unity  of  knowledge  and  would  enable  the  person  to  "see 
things  in  their  relations,"  and  thus  to  avoid  the  tendency 
to  over-emphasize  one  aspect  of  knowledge  to  the  neglect 
of  others.     A  specialist  in  any  one  branch,  ignorant  of 


58  SOCIOLOGY 

the  others,  tends  to  become  narrow  and  often  fails  to  un- 
derstand his  own  speciaUy,  because  of  his  inabiUty  to 
comprehend  its  proper  place  in  the  larger  scheme  of 
knowledge.  This  understanding  of  the  generalizations  of 
science  must  in  time  become  part  of  common  knowledge 
as  a  necessary  basis  for  an  intelligent  comprehension  of 
the  larger  questions  of  social  importance. 

In  any  case,  a  person  who  desires  to  become  proficient 
in  some  one  science  of  the  series,  should  at  all  events  be- 
come familiar  with  the  fundamental  teachings  of  the 
science  or  sciences  immediately  preceding  his  preference. 
Thus,  a  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  psychology,  and 
to  some  extent,  of  biology,  becomes  well-nigh  essential 
to  a  proper  knowledge  of  sociology,  just  as  the  psycholo- 
gist should  comprehend  the  teachings  of  biology,  as  far 
as  it  concerns  the  nervous  system  at  least,  and  the  biolo- 
gist should  comprehend  the  essential  teachings  of  organic 
chemistry.  Sociology  being  the  last  science  in  the  series 
and  obliged  to  rely  on  the  other  sciences  for  its  bases, 
is  still  in  a  formative  stage  since  its  chief  basal  sciences, 
biology  and  psychology,  are  themselves  comparatively 
new  and  are  just  becoming  scientific.  They,  however, 
already  supply  teachings  that  tentatively,  at  least,  may 
be  applied  in  the  sociological  field  as  the  basis  for  investi- 
gation and  speculation.  In  consequence  of  this  fact, 
many  concrete  sociological  sciences  are  forming,  each 
collecting  facts,  systematizing  them,  working  out  laws, 
and  accumulating  information  that  the  general  sociologist 
will  try  to  coordinate  and  to  harmonize  with  the  prin- 
ciples supplied  by  the  basal  sciences.  These  subordinate 
social  sciences,  coupled  with  anthropocentric  informa- 
tion obtained  from  the  other  sciences  of  the  series,  fur- 
nish the  data  needed  for  sociological  study. 


THE  SCIENCE  OF  SOCIOLOGY  59 

Social  Importance  of  the  Basal  Sciences. — The  re- 
lation of  sociology  to  these  other  sciences  may  be  better 
understood  by  calHng  attention  to  their  bearing  on  hu- 
man existence  and  development.  Mathematics,  for  ex- 
ample, is  fundamental  to  each  of  the  sciences,  and 
through  discoveries  in  that  field  the  science  of  astronomy 
in  particular  became  possible  and  has  been  made  exact. 
Astronomical  teaching  has  freed  the  human  mind  from 
many  a  superstitious  fear,  such  as  the  dread  of  comets, 
eclipses,  and  shooting  stars;  has  shown  man  his  real 
"place  in  the  universe"  on  an  insignificant  planet  in  a 
petty  solar  system;  has  taught  him  through  its  knowl- 
edge of  the  solar  system  the  probable  duration  of  human 
life  on  the  earth;  and  has  given  to  him  among  others  the 
practical  sciences  of  surveying  and  navigation.  Through 
its  subscience,  geology,  he  learns  the  history  of  his  own 
planet  and  the  true  story  of  human  origins  and  how  the 
world  was  made  habitable  for  man.  From  it  he  also  ac- 
quires knowledge  of  soils  and  of  hidden  forms  of  wealth, 
such  as  metals,  coals,  oils,  and  waters,  and  through  studies 
of  climate  past  and  present  he  attains  a  deeper  insight 
into  human  history  and  a  basis  for  weather  forecasts,  so 
useful  to  commerce  and  agriculture.  Through  physics 
we  become  familiar  with  the  many  forms  of  cosmic  en- 
ergy such  as  light,  heat,  and  electricity  and  with  the  laws 
of  mass,  weight,  and  motion,  thereby  allowing  the  possi- 
bility of  innumerable  inventions  and  the  development  of 
all  forms  of  engineering,  so  useful  in  higher  civilization. 
Chemistry  likewise,  through  its  ability  to  analyze  com- 
pounds and  to  synthesize  elements,  makes  enormous  con- 
tributions to  manufacturers  and  to  agriculture,  and  fur- 
nishes a  scientific  basis  for  biological  investigations  and 
for  the  pathology  of  plant,  animal,  and  man. 


6o  SOCIOLOGY 

Biology  through  Its  three  great  branches,  botany, 
zoology,  and  anthropology,  shows  the  order  of  the  evo- 
lution of  life,  and  starting  with  the  protoplasmic  cell 
studies  the  nature,  function,  and  structure  of  vegetative 
and  animal  organisms,  including  man.  Among  the  con- 
crete sciences  dependent  on  biology  some  are  sociologi- 
cally important.  Human  physiology,  for  example,  studies 
man's  physical  functions  and  structure ;  and  the  numerous 
anthropological  sciences  throw  light  on  the  differentiation 
from  the  animal  world  of  the  genus  homo  and  on  human 
origins  and  early  social  development. 

Psychology,  being  the  basis  of  all  social  activity,  nat- 
urally has  before  it  innumerable  possibilities  of  useful- 
ness, for  example,  in  education  and  social  psychology, 
but  these  various  fields  of  utility  will  be  discussed  more 
fully  in  later  chapters. 

As  one  may  speak  of  a  social  psychology,  so  likewise 
it  would  be  theoretically  possible  to  work  out  a  social 
biology,  a  social  chemistry,  a  social  physics,  and  a  social 
astronomy.  Such  studies  would  show  how  man  through 
association  has  consciously  or  unconsciously  modified 
the  structure  and  function  of  vegetable,  animal,  and  hu- 
man life;  how  he  has  introduced  into  the  universe  the 
series  of  human  chemical  creations;  how  he  has  utilized 
cosmic  energy  by  using  it  as  power,  heat,  or  light  at  will ; 
and  how  he  has  changed  to  some  extent  terrestrial  condi- 
tions through  engineering  and  invention.  These  re- 
searches would  be  interesting  and  important,  and  they 
indicate  the  wide  field  opening  up  to  the  sociologist,  as 
scientific  knowledge  of  all  sorts  becomes  systematized 
and  available. 

Lacking  the  scientific  discoveries  and  inventions 
achieved  in  these  great  fields  of  study  mankind  would 


THE  SCIENCE  OF  SOCIOLOGY  6i 

still  be  groping  in  primitive  savagery.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  potential  achievements  of  the  future  are  so 
enormous  that  present  generations  can  form  but  a  faint 
conception  of  the  possibilities  of  later  development  when 
the  human  brain  is  at  its  maximum  of  efficiency  and  at- 
tainment, and  through  social  inheritance  has  at  its  com- 
mand the  scientific  and  spiritual  achievements  of  past 
generations. 

Special  Social  Sciences. — In  addition  to  knowledge 
supplied  by  the  other  sciences  in  the  series,  sociology  has 
to  rely  on  the  special  social  sciences  for  the  larger  part 
of  its  data.  This  relationship  is  often  confused  and 
needs  to  be  clearly  understood.  If  sociology  belongs  in 
the  series  with  the  other  sciences  it  must  be  an  abstract 
science,  differentiated  so  as  to  emphasize  the  laws  and 
principles  underlying  social  phenomena,  both  in  their 
pure  and  in  their  applied  form.  These  laws  and  prin- 
ciples, as  already  indicated,  are  partly  supplied  from  the 
sciences  preceding  it  in  the  series,  and  partly  from  the 
.study  of  the  various  fomis  of  group  association.  The 
laws  and  principles  obtained  from  these  specialized 
studies  of  separate  departments  of  social  phenomena, 
when  brought  into  relationship  with  the  generalizations 
of  the  preceding  abstract  sciences,  form  the  science  of 
sociology.  Some  of  these  departments  are  in  themselves 
so  broad  in  the  extent  of  their  social  interests  that  their 
students  have  been  tempted  to  identify  them  with  so- 
ciology proper.  Politics,  as  presented  by  Greek  philoso- 
phers, was  practically  an  ancient  theory  of  sociology; 
ethics  and  economics,  in  their  broader  aspects,  both 
threaten  at  times  to  usurp  the  province  of  sociology.  The 
mere  name  of  the  science,  however,  is  immaterial ;  no  mat- 
ter by  what  name  it  may  be  called,  that  study  is  sociology 


62  SOCIOLOGY 

which  works  out  scientifically  the  laws  and  principles  of 
human  association. 

On  the  other  hand,  from  the  viewpoint  of  the  above 
explanation  all  that  calls  itself  sociology  is  not,  neces- 
sarily, sociology.  Thus,  such  familiar  terms  as  "descrip- 
tive sociology,"  "practical  sociology,"  "Christian  sociol- 
ogy," "criminal  sociology,"  are  incorrectly  used.  They 
merely  designate  descriptions  of  social  conditions  and  ex- 
planations of  social  reforms.  Even  though  such  studies 
are  sociological  in  aim,  they  are  properly  concrete  social 
sciences  or  practical  applications  of  these  tO'  social  condi- 
tions, and  each  covers  only  a  very  small  part  of  the  en- 
tire field  covered  by  sociology.  These  special  concrete 
social  sciences  with  their  applications  to  social  conditions 
work  out  their  conclusions  separately,  basing  them  on  a 
study  of  the  specialized  phenomena  within  their  respec- 
tive spheres.  Relating  these  conclusions  to  one  another 
and  to  the  great  generalizations  of  the  serial  sciences  is 
the  work  of  the  sociologist  proper,  and  can  only  be  com- 
pletely done  after  social  phenomena  have  been  studied 
by  the  subsciences  of  sociology.  If  one  looks,  therefore, 
at  the  world  of  social  phenomena,  the  picture  presented 
to  the  mind  is  of  many  persons  each  working  out  his 
specialty  and  each  elaborating  conclusions  from  his 
studies  in  the  subsciences  of  anthropology,  in  social  psy- 
chology, in  economics,  jurisprudence,  ethics,  education, 
religion,  and  domestic  relations,  in  crime,  vice,  pauperism, 
and  a  thousand  other  specialized  branches  of  societal 
knowledge. 

Sociology  Synthetic. — This  sort  of  thing  might  be 
done  for  centuries  and  there  would  still  be  no  great  ab- 
stract science  of  sociology.  But  when  scientific  philoso- 
phers arise,  as  Comte,  Spencer,  and  Ward,  who  try  to  re- 


THE  SCIENCE  OF  SOCIOLOGY  63 

late  these  disconnected  researches  so  as  to  show  that  un- 
derlying all  human  association  there  are  common  prin- 
ciples in  harmony  with  cosmic  laws,  from  that  time  so- 
ciology proper  is  in  process  of  formation.  The  begin- 
nings of  the  science  may  be  weak  and  often  illogical,  even 
viciously  defective  from  lack  of  proper  basal  knowledge 
and  prone  to  backslide  into  metaphysics,  but  the  same 
statement  would  be  true  of  any  other  science  in  its  begin- 
nings, only  more  true,  doubtless,  of  sociology,  because 
it  is  the  most  complex  science  of  the  series.  Since,  how- 
ever, a  knowledge  of  the  science  of  sociology  is  funda- 
mental to  any  adequate  comprehension  of  social  life  or 
to  any  wise  policy  of  social  progress,  one  must  hope  that 
the  errors  will  be  shed  as  soon  as  possible,  that  gaps  in 
knowledge  may  be  bridged  over  by  study,  and  that  a 
fairly  accurate  body  of  principles  may  be  worked  out,  so 
as  to  enable  mankind  to  accelerate  its  upward  march  to- 
ward the  far-distant  goal  of  social  evolution.  From  this 
standpoint  one  may  admit  that  sociology  hardly  deserves 
yet  to  be  called  an  exact  science,  that  its  theorists  make 
many  blunders  and  enunciate  occasional  absurdities,  and 
yet  at  the  same  time  he  may  argue  that  it  is  the  science 
par  excellence  and  will  some  day  furnish  the  key  to  the 
door  which  bars  our  way  to  the  full  comprehension  of 
human  destiny. 

Sociology's  Relations  to  Philosophy  and  Religion. 
— With  this  explanation  in  mind  it  becomes  possible  to 
see  more  clearly  the  relation  of  sociology  to  certain  other 
studies  closely  allied  through  common  interests.  Philos- 
ophy, for  example,  is  a  term  that  in  its  numerous  and  con- 
flicting meanings  covers  a  whole  series  of  studies,  (i) 
Spencer  preferred  to  think  of  it  as  a  study  which  should 
use  the  scientific  method  of  induction  and  base  itself  en- 


64  SOCIOLOGY 

tirely  upon  verifiable  generalizations,  and  which  should 
aim  to  synthesize  scientific  knowledge  by  becom- 
ing a  science  of  sciences.  (2)  If  philosophy  be  consid- 
ered as  concerned  chiefly  with  the  general  contents  and 
forms  of  knowledge,  it  would  properly  be  included  within 
the  general  science  of  psychology,  as  the  study  of  ab- 
stract laws  and  principles  underlying  thought  and  the 
acquisition  of  knowledge.  Psychology,  in  its  behavioris- 
tic  form,  is,  of  course,  a  concrete  science  dependent  upon 
the  abstract  psychological  group.  (3)  If  philosophy  be 
considered  as  dealing  with  volitions  and  conduct,  either 
between  man  and  man  or  between  men  and  a  personified 
divinity  or  divinities,  it  may  be  defined  as  ethics.  Social 
ethics  to-day  is  rapidly  becoming  a  subscience  that  should 
properly  be  ranked  under  the  sociological  group.  Now 
sociology,  as  the  last  science  in  the  Comtean  series,  may, 
well  philosophize  to  some  extent  in  the  first  sense  of  that 
word  as  defined  above,  but  would  have  no  direct  concern 
with  philosophy  in  the  second  sense,  whereas  in  respect 
to  social  ethics  it  may  rightly  assert  a  deep  interest,  since 
that  study  deals  with  human  conduct  and  its  standards.'^ 
In  a  similar  manner  the  relation  existing  between  so- 
ciology and  religion  may  be  indicated.  Religion  as  a 
study,  emphasizing  certain  teachings  in  respect  to  divin- 
ity and  human  immortality,  is  plainly  a  philosophy  which, 
according  to  sociological  theory,  should  harmonize  with 
scientific  knowledge,  or  at  least  should  not  be  antagonistic 
to  it.  So  far  as  religion  is  a  philosophy,  sociology  is  con- 
cerned with  its  teachings  only  as  they  affect  human  rela- 
tions. In  so  far,  however,  as  religion  establishes  social 
institutions,  such  as  the  church  or  the  priesthood,  for  the 

'  Compare  on  this  topic  J.   S.   Mackenzie,  Introduction  to  Social 
Philosophy,  especially  Chap.  I. 


THE  SCIENCE  OF  SOCIOLOGY  65 

perpetuation  and  the  enlargement  of  religious  influence, 
and  in  so  far  as  it  teaches  through  these  a  code  of  morals, 
sociology  has  a  direct  concern  and  may  well  study  relig- 
ious institutions  and  religious  ethics  by  the  same  meth- 
ods It  employs  in  the  study  of  other  institutions,  such  as 
the  family  or  the  state.^ 

Social  Prevision. — It  has  already  been  shown  that 
from  a  scientific  point  of  view  human  knowledge  is  only 
relatively  ascertainable,  and  hence  can  be  only  relatively 
true.  If  each  science  depends  on  others  for  much  of  its 
data  and  on  an  imperfect  mental  mechanism  for  its  eluci- 
dation, no  knowledge  is  absolutely  true.  The  aim  of 
science  is  to  ascertain  the  exact  truth  as  far  as  this  is 
humanly  possible,  but  the  consummation  of  this  lies  far 
in  the  future.  The  best  approximation  to  this  is  seen  when 
the  scientist,  through  his  knowledge,  becomes  able  to 
forecast  the  future.  In  many  directions  at  the  present 
time  scientists  can  foretell  results  as,  e.g.,  in  the  fields  of 
astronomy,  physics,  chemistry,  and  biology,  and  the  hope 
of  science  is  that  in  ages  to  come  knowledge  will  become 
so  exact  that  man,  by  his  understanding  of  the  laws  of 
nature,  can  with  a  fair  degree  of  accuracy  intelligently 
direct  his  activities  so  as  to  attain  a  desired  goal. 

The  question  arises  whether  in  sociology,  the  newest 
of  the  great  sciences,  this  same  power  of  "prevision,"  ^ 
as  Comte  called  it,  is  possible.  The  answer  is  decidedly 
becoming  affirmative.  Sociologists  now  assert  with  in- 
creasing emphasis  that  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when 
some  of  the  fundamental  laws  and  principles  underlying 

'For  further  statements  on  this  topic,  see  Chapter  XVII. 

•"All  science  has  prevision  for  its  aim,"  i.e.,  the  capacity  to  form 
right  conclusions  through  an  insight  based  on  scientific  deductions. 
For  a  brief  discussion  of  thi^  term,  see  Levy-Bruhl,  The  Phi- 
losophy of  Comte,  pp.  66-70, 


66  SOCIOLOGY 

social  activity  will  be  so  well  understood  that  civilization 
can  begin  to  exterminate  the  great  handicaps  to  progress, 
such  as  crime,  pauperism,  intemperance,  and  sexual  vice, 
and  to  build  up  with  scientific  precision  a  social  order 
that  will  bring  vigor  and  happiness  to  mankind.  It  is 
essential,  however,  to  remember  tha't  this  consummation 
will  probably  not  be  effected  by  adopting  in  toto  any  of 
the  Utopias  or  social  panaceas  now  so  numerous,  but  by 
slow  and  methodical  study  of  the  facts  of  social  life,  a 
scientific  elaboration  of  the  truths  conitained  in  these, 
and  the  harmonization  of  sociological  teaching  with  the 
great  generalizations  that  underlie  all  science.  "United 
we  stand,  divided  we  fall"  is  as  true  of  the  sciences  as  of 
the  commonwealths  of  a  federation.  The  true  scientist 
must  cooperate  with  his  fellows,  be  modest  in  his  conclu- 
sions, refrain  from  dogmatism,  and  must  hold  as  his 
article  of  faith  the  belief  that  the  unknown  may  yet  be- 
come known  to  the  patient  student  who  sits  at  the  feet 
of  nature  and  seeks  to  understand  her  mysteries. 

At  the  same  time  it  should  be  said  that  the  best  of 
our  Utopias  have  an  important  place  in  sociological  theo- 
rizing. They  voice  the  intuitive  anticipations  of  thinkers 
who  may  not  be  able  to  explain  the  steps  leading  to  their 
conclusion,  but  yet  see  with  a  sort  of  prophetic  vision 
the  trend  of  civilization.  They  should  be  taken  at  their 
face  value,  their  details  ignored,  and  their  general  ideas 
considered  as  hypotheses  setting  forth  a  theory  of  hu- 
man progress.  Some  Utopias,  like  those  of  Plato,  Sir 
Thomas  More,  and  Edward  Bellamy,  have  been  decid- 
edly stimulating  to  the  social  imagination. 

Sociology  is  Anthropocentric. — Sociology,  it  may  be 
said  in  conclusion  of  chis  chapter,  tends  to  be  anthropo- 
centric.   That  is,  it  seeks  to  interpret  all  scientific  knowl- 


THE  SCIENCE  OF  SOCIOLOGY  67 

edge,  as  already  explained  earlier  in  this  chapter,  into 
terms  of  utility  to  man.  Theoretically  knowledge  may  be 
acquired  for  its  own  sake,  out  of  the  desire  merely  to 
add  to  the  world's  store  and  without  thought  of  any  prac- 
tical application.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  even  in  the 
mind  of  such  a  student  there  is  the  unconscious  hope 
that  at  some  time  the  results  of  his  researches  may  prove 
beneficial  to  mankind.  Sociology,  with  its  keen  desire  to 
accelerate  the  progress  of  humanity,  favors,  in  the  best 
sense  of  the  word,  a  utilitarianism  that  seeks  always  for 
a  practical  application  of  any  new  scientific  discovery. 
Tn  consequence,  it  favors  stimuli  in  the  form  of  honors 
and  rewards  in  invention  and  science,  it  approves  the 
scientific  experimental  activities  of  governmental  and 
private  enterprise,  and  encourages  in  every  possible  way 
the  development  of  concrete  sciences  and  arts  involving 
activities  of  social  importance.  Its  trend  is  away  from 
the  simple  life  of  village  communism,  or  monastic  retire- 
ment, or  a  selfish  individualism.  It  emphasizes  coopera- 
tive activity,  social  altruism,  a  complex  yet  unified  social 
organization,  and  the  necessity  of  constant  achievement 
for  the  sake  of  human  welfare.  In  so  doing  it  is  deeply 
interested  in  the  application  of  astronomical  truths,  for 
instance,  to  navigation,  or  in  the  teachings  of  physicists 
in  respect  to  the  utilization  of  natural  power;  of  chemical 
knowledge  in  respect  to  foods,  metals,  and  the  industries 
generally;  of  biological  principles  of  utility  in  developing 
the  quantity  and  quality  of  vegetable  and  animal  foods; 
and  of  psychological  information  that  may  throw  light 
on  the  potential  capacities  of  the  mind  when  rightly 
trained.  From  its  subsciences  sociology  hopes  to  under- 
stand the  true  principles  of  economic  effort,  the  proper 
organization   and   functions  of  government,   the  wisest 


68  SOCIOLOGY 

methods  in  regulation  of  domestic  relationships,  the  sci- 
entific principles  underlying  law,  mortality,  and  public 
opinion,  and  the  relative  social  importance  of  the  reli- 
gious, the  aesthetic,  and  the  intellectual. 

Sociology,  therefore,  has  a  distinctly  practical  aim.  It 
seeks  to  base  itself  firmly  on  science  and  scientific  meth- 
ods, abjuring  unverifiable  teachings;  it  aims  to  bring  or- 
der into  the  chaos  of  social  activities,  and  through  the 
unification  of  sociological  knowledge  to  guide  mankind 
towards  the  ideal  of  an  increasingly  progressive  civiliza- 
tion. In  this  newer  era  of  coming  social  progress  the 
evils  of  social  life  will  slowly  give  place  to  a  more  just 
system  of  social  organization,  in  which  men  will  deliber- 
ately and  methodically  work  towards  an  ethical  goal,  in 
which  the  inherent  capacities  of  the  human  race  will  have 
full  opportunity  for  higher  development. 


CHAPTER  VI 

SOCIOLOGY  AND  BIOLOGY 

Social  Utility  of  Biology. — Reference  has  several 
times  been  made  to  biology  and  its  subdivisions  as  basal 
for  sociological  studies.  In  saying  this  one  does  not 
imply  that  biology  is  sociology  or  that  the  latter  is  merely 
a  subdivision  of  the  former.  Each  science  has  its  own 
field,  distinct  and  apart  from  the  other.  By  broad  defi- 
nition sociology  is  devoted  to  the  study  of  human  asso- 
ciations and  human  associations  are  not  biological  or- 
ganisms. Yet  human  associations  are  psychic  by  nature 
and  psychic  phenomena  depend  primarily  on  the  exist- 
ence of  a  physical  nervous  system  as  part  of  a  physical 
body.  Human  bodies  are  biological  organisms  and,  there- 
fore, whatever  biology  and  its  various  subsciences  may 
teach  about  the  body  and  nervous  system  is  of  profound 
human  interest.  Then,  too,  biological  knowledge  is  basal 
for  hygiene  and  sanitation,  and  for  the  practice  of  medi- 
cine in  its  aim  to  keep  the  human  body  free  from  sick- 
ness and  disease,  or  for  physical  culture  in  its  attempts 
to  develop  a  perfect  physique. 

Biology  also  in  its  botanical  aspect  has  before  it  im- 
mense possibilities  of  social  usefulness  in  seeking  to  en- 
large through  forestry  the  supply  of  timbers  for  building 
and  wooded  areas  to  serve  as  reservoirs  for  streams.  Bot- 
any, furthermore,  in  its  applications,  aims  to  develop  edible 
plants  and  fruits  of  all  sorts  so  as  to  multiply  the  vegetal 

69 


yo  SOCIOLOGY 

supplies  of  human  foods,  varying  them  by  selective  proc- 
esses so  as  to  furnish  the  many  different  varieties,  for 
example,  of  the  grains,  the  potato,  the  apple,  pear,  or 
grape,  or  flowers  cultivated  for  their  aesthetic  value. 

In  the  same  manner  zoology  through  studies  of  animal 
life  is  becoming  increasingly  able  to  supply  to  hungry 
mouths  innumerable  varieties  of  animal  foods,  whether 
flesh,  fish,  or  fowl,  as  well  as  to  supply  for  the  yoke  and 
the  bit  animals  as  substitutes  for  human  labor.  In  later 
years  the  tropics  and  the  seas  will  undoubtedly  be  utilized 
far  more  than  at  present  for  the  purpose  of  producing 
foods  and  other  organic  necessities  of  life,  but  only  when 
biology  through  its  scientific  investigations  has  ascer- 
tained the  best  methods  of  food  multiplication  and  at  the 
same  time  has  discovered  the  art  of  freeing  organic  life 
from  the  natural  diseases  of  plant  and  animal. 

But,  omitting  for  the  present  these  scientific  contri- 
butions from  biology  to  human  welfare,  there  are  other 
aspects  of  the  science  that  must  be  taken  into  account  by 
the  student  of  sociology.  From  among  these  three  will 
be  selected  as  illustrations,  namely,  (i)  the  field  of  an- 
thropology, (2)  the  organic  theory  as  applied  to  society, 
and  (3)  the  biological  teaching  in  respect  to  heredity.   <! 

The  Field  of  Anthropology. — Anthropology  is  a  de- 
scriptive science  devoted  to  the  study  of  man.  Obviously, 
therefore,  sociology  and  anthropology  conceivably  might 
easily  overlap.  In  one  sense  anthropology  is  a  subscience 
of  sociology;  in  another,  sociology  is  merely  a  subdivi- 
sion of  anthropology.  Anthropology  historically  arose 
as  a  subdivision  of  zoology  and  described  the  animal 
man,  contrasting  his  physiology  with  those  of  other  ani- 
mals and  comparing  human  racial  physical  differences  of 
body  and  skull.    This  naturally  led  to  a  statement  of  the 


SOCIOLOGY  AND  BIOLOGY  71 

mental  and  social  characteristics  that  distinguished  man 
from  other  animals  or  that  differentiated  one  race  from 
another,  thus  leading  on  to  the  development  of  other  sci- 
ences. Man,  for  example,  has  developed  language  to  a 
remarkable  extent,  as  compared  with  the  language  of 
animals,  and,  therefore,  the  subscience  of  philology  de- 
voted itself  to  this  study.  He  is  an  animal  making  use 
of  tools  of  his  own  creation,  and  hence  arose  the  study 
of  human  technology,  and  of  the  survivals  of  earlier 
achievements  under  the  study  of  archccology.  Again 
man  is  characterized  by  his  mentality,  expressing  itself 
in  art,  religion,  and  mythological  philosophizing  and 
through  this  development  primitive  man  multiplied  his 
social  relationships  or  group  contacts.  This  is  develop- 
ing into  the  science  of  social  origins.  All  of  these  prop- 
erly form  part  of  anthropology,  although  the  study  may 
be  somewhat  narrowed  by  considering  the  same  subject 
matter  from  a  racial  viewpoint,  thus  developing  into  the 
sciences  of  ethnography  and  ethnology  with  their  subdi- 
visions. Under  such  conditions  the  term  anthropology 
becomes  merely  a  sort  of  connecting  link  between  kin- 
dred descriptive  sciences,  devoted  mostly  to  studies  of 
primitive  man  and  early  civilizations,  so  that  the  real 
science  of  man  is  not  anthropology  but  sociology,  since 
this  goes  far  beyond  mere  description  of  primitive  peoples 
and  seeks  by  wider  studies  to  work  out  the  laws  and 
principles  underlying  this  vast  mass  of  descriptive  ma- 
terial, contained  not  merely  in  anthropology  but  in  the 
special  social  sciences  also,  like  economics,  politics,  and 
morals. 

Yet  emphasizing,  as  sociology  does  through  the  influ- 
ence of  Comte  and  Spencer,  the  study  of  social  develop- 


J2  SOCIOLOGY 

ment  ^  or  evolution,  the  information  contained  in  an- 
thropology and  its  subsciences  is  fundamental  to  any  true 
comprehension  of  human  history,  so  that  evolutionary  so- 
cial studies  are  dependent  on  and  profoundly  interested 
in  the  progress  of  these  numerous  sciences  devoted  to 
human  and  social  beginnings,  and  must  follow  their  con- 
clusions closely,  so  as  to  have  a  scientific  basis  for  its 
teachings  in  respect  to  social  evolution.  For  these  reasons 
sociology  regularly  assumes  the  truth  of  such  teachings 
from  these  sciences  as  the  geologic  age  of  man,  his  de- 
scent from  an  animal  ancestry,  and  his  slow  ascent  from 
animality  to  a  crude  and  savage  civilization,  out  of  which 
by  infinitely  slow  processes  mankind,  under  the  stimulus 
of  an  expanding  mentality,  is  emerging  into  the  quasl- 
civilization  of  this  century.  Since  millions  of  years  prob- 
ably yet  lie  ahead  of  the  human  race  before  the  earth  will 
cease  to  be  fit  for  human  habitation,  sociology  is  not  in  the 
habit  of  talking  pessimistically  about  the  senescence  of 
mankind,  but  rather  views  humanity  as  a  robust,  sprawl- 
ing infant,  not  yet  able  to  act  and  think  in  a  mature  way. 
Yet,  learning  by  sad  experience,  it  is  slowly  strengthen- 
ing its  foresight  and  intelligence  and  gaining  impercep- 
tibly such  an  insight  into  the  laws  of  its  future  that,  in 
due  time,  one  may  hope  it  will  shun  the  blunders  of  its 
immaturity  and  direct  its  activities  purposively  towards 
the  attainment  of  a  higher  social  life. 

Organic  Theory  of  Society. — The  older  organic 
theory  of  society,  which  had  vogue  for  thousands  of 
years  down  to  the  time  of  Darwinism,  assumed  that  so- 
ciety might  well  be  compared  to  a  human  body.  In 
Greek  teaching  both  Pythagoras  and  Plato  used  this 
analogy,  comparing,  for  example,  the  head  to  the  noblest 

^  Comtc's  Social  Dynamics. 


SOCIOLOGY  AND  BIOLOGY  73 

part  of  mankind,  the  upper  trunk  to  the  less  noble,  and 
the  lower  trunk  to  the  plebeian  element.  This  analogy 
was  common  among  the  Romans  also'  as  when,  for  exam- 
ple, the  secession  of  the  plebs  from  the  patricians  was 
compared  to  the  revolt  of  the  stomach  against  the  head. 
National  personification  is  common  in  the  Old  Testament 
as  in  the  dream  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  (Daniel  2).  Paul, 
in  the  New  Testament,  compares  the  church  to  a  body 
having  Christ  as  its  head,  or  again  the  Church  and  Christ 
as  a  bride  and  bridegroom.  In  the  Seventeenth  Century 
this  older  organic  notion  still  remained  common,  for  Hob- 
bes  in  his  Leviathan  pictures  the  State  as  a  magnified 
man,  the  parts  of  which  are  made  up  of  miniature  men," 
and  Pascal  in  the  same  century,  following  St.  Augus- 
tine's Chntas  Dei  represents  mankind,  past  and  present, 
as  though  it  were  a  single  person  living  a  continuous  life 
and  constantly  adding  to  his  knowledge. 

The  danger  of  holding  an  analogy  too  closely  is  seen  in 
this  older  organic  theory,  since  it  was  assumed  that  man- 
kind, or  a  nation,  being  an  organism,  had  its  birth,  child- 
hood, maturity,  and  an  old  age  followed  by  inevitable 
death.  Since  also  from  this  standpoint  mankind  was 
thought  of  as  hoary  with  age  and  that  high  civilization 
was  a  mark  of  senescence,  advanced  nations  were  des- 
tined to  "decline  and  fall"  and  would  be  succeeded  by 
more  youthful  barbarians  who  in  their  turn  would  grow 
decrepid  through  the  curse  of  civilization.  It  developed 
also  a  pessimistic  belief  in  the  nearness  of  the  "end  of 
the  world,"  a  notion  that  prevailed  down  to  the  middle 
Nineteenth  Century,  and  that  is  still  held  in  some  religious 
circles. 

Another  aspect  of  this  organic  theory  is  best  seen  in 
'See  pictures  in  old  folio  edition  of  this  work. 


74  SOCIOLOGY 

the  development  of  the  idea  of  the  corporation,  a  com- 
munity of  persons  so  unified  in  their  collective  character 
that  they  are  assumed  to  have  a  corporate  personality. 
Thus,  the  law  assumes  that  corporations  are  artificial  per- 
sons, even  though  a  corporation  has  "neither  a  body  to 
be  kicked,  nor  a  soul  to  be  damned."  In  the  same  manner, 
the  State  as  a  corporate  entity  is  a  person  and  has  a  per- 
sonality, and  its  character  may  be  portrayed  in  cartoons, 
as  in  the  case  of  Uncle  Sam,  John  Bull,  or  la  belle  France. 

The  latest  form  of  the  organic  theory  was  best  voiced 
by  Herbert  Spencer,  under  the  influence  of  the  biological 
era  of  his  mature  life.  In  his  Principles  of  Sociology  he 
made  great  use  of  biological  analogies  in  his  discussion  of 
society,  so  that  one  gets  the  impression  that  society  is  an 
organism  or  a  superorganism  very  like  a  man,  or,  if  not 
so  high  in  the  scale,  then  perhaps  more  like  a  brainless 
jelly-fish,  or  perhaps  a  cross  between  both.  Schaffle  of 
Austria,  Paul  von  Lilienfeld  of  Germany,  and  the  earlier 
French  sociologists  generally  made  large  use  of  the  or- 
ganic analogy,  but  in  later  years,  with  the  rise  of  the 
newer  psychology,  the  organic  analogy  is  losing  its  hold, 
or  survives  in  a  modified  form,  stressing  a  psychic  or- 
ganism, the  "social  mind,"  instead  of  the  social  body. 

Problem  of  Parenthood. — The  third  aspect  of  biology 
in  which  sociology  is  interested  is  its  teaching  in  regard 
to  human  parenthood,  life,  and  heredity.  These  questions 
are  unquestionably  among  the  most  ancient  problems 
with  which  the  mind  of  man  has  struggled.  Animals,  of 
course,  never  trouble  their  heads  about  questions  of  par- 
enthood or  heredity,  but  when  man  Ijegan  to  think  at  all 
the  problem  of  birth  must  have  early  presented  itself 
to  his  mind.  Unquestionably  a  child  is  born  from  its 
mother,  but  was  she  alone  responsible  for  its  birth  (par- 


SOCIOLOGY  AND  BIOLOGY  75 

thenogenesis),  or  were  supernatural  agencies  concerned, 
imparting  to  tlie  female  divine  life  from  the  heavens/ 
or  might  conception  take  place  through  the  influence  of 
natural  objects  or  animal  life  other  than  human  (totem- 
ism)  ?  When  the  office  of  the  male  in  generation  was 
understood  male  egotism  soon  evolved  the  theory  that 
the  offspring  really  "sprung  from  the  loins  of"  the  male, 
and  was  merely  nourished  and  carried  by  the  female  un- 
til its  birth.  Not  until  the  Nineteenth  Century  (1827) 
when  Von  Baer  discovered  by  microscopic  investigation 
the  mammalian  ovum,  was  the  joint  function  of  both 
parents  in  procreation  scientifically  known.  The  widely 
varying  ancient  theories  of  parenthood  seem  strange  to 
us,  but  each  conclusion  was  doubtless  attained  only  after 
centuries  of  meditation  and  reflection  on  human  experi- 
ences, and  each  conclusion,  when  adopted,  deeply  affected 
family  organization  and  kinship,  according  as  the  inter- 
pretation was  metronymic,  totemistic,  or  patronymic. 

Ancient  Beliefs  Respecting  Heredity. — The  other 
related  problem,  that  of  life,  was  not  susceptible  of  so- 
lution by  observation,  and  hence  had  its  religious  and 
philosophical  reply.  At  first  it  was  assumed  that  life 
came  directly  from  the  gods  as,  for  example,  in  the  nar- 
ration of  Genesis  (II,  7).^  But  in  later  generations, 
as  men  mused  on  the  vicissitudes  of  life  and  the  ex- 
tremes of  fortune  that  came  to  the  lot  of  man,  they  con- 
cluded, as  in  the  Indian  theory  of  the  transmigration  of 
souls,  that  life  is  eternal  in  the  universe  and  is  similar 
in  all  living  organisms,  including  man,  but  that  it  mani- 

*  Compare,  for  example,  the  many  traditions  of  the  divine  par- 
entage of  founders  of  religions,  or  of  heroes  and  kings. 

*  "And  the  Lord  God  formed  man  of  the  dust  of  the  ground,  and 
breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life;  and  man  became  a 
living  soul." 


yd  SOCIOLOGY 

fests  itself  according  to  law  in  different  forms  of  varying 
grade.  For  example,  as  in  Indian  philosophy,  the  kind 
of  life  a  man  lives,  determines  his  character  (karma) 
and  this  at  death  determines  the  kind  of  organic  body 
the  life  will  inhabit  when  reborn.  Thus,  a  noble  life 
might  progressively  advance  through  numerous  bodies 
towards  saintliness  and  absorption  into  divinity  (Nir- 
vana), or  by  contrast  a  vile  life  would  descend  through 
varying  grades  until  it  inhabited  the  body  of  a  beast  or  a 
serpent.  Plato  taught  quite  the  same  idea  in  his  Repub- 
lic, in  the  "Fable  of  Er"  (Book  X)  but  represents  the 
souls  of  the  dead  in  the  other  world  as  making  choice 
by  lot  of  the  destiny  they  desired  to  experience  when  re- 
born in  earthly  bodies,  a  teaching  reproduced  with  varia- 
tions by  Virgil  in  his  /Enead. 

These  several  notions  of  the  determination  of  one's 
life  as  fixed  by  the  gods,  or  by  an  eternal  fate,  or  by  some 
decision  made  before  birth  represent  the  supernatural 
and  metaphysical  stages  of  explanation  of  heredity.  On 
the  other  hand  a  teaching  based  on  human  experience  is 
found  in  such  notions  as  the  hereditary  curse  resting  on 
the  house  of  CEdipus,  or  the  blessings  inherited  from 
Abraham  by  a  chosen  people,  or  such  expressions  as  "The 
fathers  have  eaten  sour  grapes,  and  the  children's  teeth 
are  set  on  edge,"  or,  "Do  men  gather  grapes  of  thorns 
or  figs  of  thistles?"  Plato,  in  his  myth  of  the  metals, 
went  one  step  further  by  emphasizing  a  gradation  in 
heredity.     In  the  Republic  he  says : 

The  God  who  created  you  mixed  gold  In  the  composition 
of  such  of  you  as  are  qualified  to  rule,  which  gives  them 
the  highest  value;  while  in  the  auxiliaries  he  made  silver 
an  ingredient,  assigning  iron  and  copper  to  the  cultivators 
of  the  soil  and  the  other  workmen.    Therefore,  inasmuch  as 


SOCIOLOGY  AND  BIOLOGY  jy 

you  are  all  related  to  one  another,  although  your  children 
will  generally  resemble  their  parents,  yet  sometimes  a  gold- 
en parent  will  produce  a  silver  child,  and  a  silver  parent 
a  golden  child,  and  so  on,  each  producing  any.  The  rulers, 
therefore,  have  received  this  in  charge  first  and  above  all 
from  the  gods,  to  observe  nothing  more  closely,  in  their 
character  of  vigilant  guardians,  than  the  children  that  are 
born,  to  see  which  of  these  metals  enters  into  the  composi- 
tion of  their  souls ;  and  if  a  child  be  born  in  their  class  with 
an  alloy  of  copper  or  iron,  they  are  to  have  no  manner  of 
pity  upon  it,  but  giving  it  the  value  that  belongs  to  its  na- 
ture, they  are  to  thrust  it  away  into  the  class  of  artisans  or 
agriculturists ;  and  if  again  among  these  a  child  be  bom  with 
any  admixture  of  gold  or  silver,  when  they  have  assayed  it, 
they  are  to  raise  it  either  to  the  class  of  guardians,  or  to 
that  of  auxiliaries.  (Book  III,  Section  415.  Translation 
by  Davies  and  Vanghan.) 

Also  in  discussing  the  question  of  woman's  supposed 
inferiority  to  man  he  argued : 

I  conclude  then  that  none  of  the  occupations  which  com- 
prehend the  ordering  of  a  state  belong  to  woman  as  woman, 
nor  yet  to  man  as  man;  but  natural  gifts  are  to  be  found 
here  and  there,  in  both  sexes  alike ;  and,  so  far  as  her  na- 
ture is  concerned,  the  woman  is  admissible  to  all  pursuits 
as  well  as  the  man ;  though  in  all  of  them  the  woman  is 
weaker  than  the  man. 

Precisely  so. 

Shall  we  then  appropriate  all  duties  to  men,  and  none  to 
women  ? 

How  can  we? 

On  the  contrary,  we  shall  hold,  I  imagine,  that  one  woman 
may  have  talents  for  medicine,  and  another  be  without 
them ;  and  that  one  may  be  musical,  and  another  unmusi- 
cal. 

Undoubtedly. 

And  shall  we  not  also  say,  that  one  woman  may  have 
qualifications   for  gymnastic  exercises,  and  for  war,  and 


78  SOCIOLOGY 

another  be  unwarlike,  and  without  a  taste  for  gymnastics? 

I  think  we  shall. 

Again,  may  there  not  be  a  love  of  knowledge  in  one,  and 
a  distaste  for  it  in  another?  and  may  not  one  be  spirited,  and 
another  spiritless? 

True  again. 

If  that  be  so,  there  are  some  women  who  are  fit,  and 
others  who  are  unfit,  for  the  office  of  guardians.  For 
were  not  those  the  qualities  that  we  selected,  in  the  case  of 
the  men,  as  marking  their  fitness  for  that  office  ? 

Yes,  they  were. 

Then  as  far  as  the  guardianship  of  a  state  is  concerned, 
there  is  no  difference  between  the  natures  of  the  man  and 
of  the  woman,  but  only  various  degrees  of  weakness  and 
strength. 

Apparently  there  is  none. 

Then  we  shall  have  to  select  duly  qualified  women  also, 
to  share  in  the  life  and  official  labours  of  the  duly  qualified 
men;  since  we  find  that  they  are  competent  to  the  work, 
and  of  kindred  nature  with  the  men.     ( Book  V,  Section  455.) 

But  in  a  century  earlier  than  Plato's,  Confucius  had 
hit  on  a  theory  of  the  "survival  of  the  fit"  when  he  re- 
marked : 

For  God,  in  giving  life  to  all  created  things,  is  surely 
bountiful  to  them  according  to  their  qualities.  Hence  the 
tree  which  is  full  of  life  He  fosters  and  sustains,  while 
that  which  is  ready  to  fall  He  cuts  off  and  destroys.* 

Teachings  of  this  sort  are  exceedingly  common  in 
ancient  and  mediaeval  literature,  for  beliefs  in  regard  to 
heredity  had  become  standardized  through  the  influence 
of  Oriental  and  Greek  classics  and.  Jewish  teaching. 
Newer  instruction  needed  the  methods  of  science  and 
these,  in  biology,  were  practically  unknown  before  the 
Nineteenth  Century.     Throughout  the  Eighteenth  Cen- 

'  Conduct  of  Life,  tr.  by  Ku  Hung  Wing,  p.  39.  "Wisdom  of 
the  East"  series. 


SOCIOLOGY  AND  BIOLOGY  79 

tury,  owing  to  the  influence  of  the  psychological  sensa- 
tionalism of  the  school  represented  by  John  Locke  and 
David  Hume,  heredity  as  a  factor  in  civilization  was 
minimized  and  environment  made  important.  Social  per- 
fection, it  was  taught,  must  come  through  modifications 
in  and  improvement  of  social  environment. 

Recent  Teachings. — It  was  early  in  the  Nineteenth 
Century  (1809)  when  Lamarck  definitely  raised  the  is- 
sue between  heredity  and  environment  by  advancing  as 
a  scientific  teaching  the  inheritance  of  acquired  charac- 
ters through  use  or  disuse.  This,  of  course,  implies  an 
hereditary  inheritance,  but  one  built  up  generation  by 
generation  through  human  environmental  experiences. 
Nearly  twenty  years  later  came  the  discoveries  of  Von 
Baer  respecting  the  mammalian  ovum.  Another  thirty 
years  ushered  in  the  Darwinian  era  (1859)  with  its 
theory  of  the  origin  of  species,  human  descent  from  ani- 
mal ancestry,  and  progress  through  continuous  variation, 
adaptation,  selection,  survival,  and  elimination,  as  the  re- 
sult of  the  struggle  for  food  and  mates.  Towards  the 
end  of  the  century  came  Weismann,  who  argued  (1885- 
1893),  that  the  germ  plasm  is  continuous,  in  the  sense 
that  there  are  definite  cells  handed  down  from  generation 
to  generation,  and  that  these  include  the  total  inheritance 
with  which  a  new  generation  starts.  Then  was  revived 
the  theory  of  Mendel  (announced  in  1865)  proclaiming 
that  there  are  in  plant  and  animal  certain  unit  characters 
which  do  not  blend  with  other  unit  characters,  when 
these  are  brought  together  in  breeding,  but  remain  con- 
stant and  finally  appear  in  the  offspring  in  definite  pro- 
portions. In  190 1  came  the  mutation  theory  of  De  Vries, 
claiming  that  Darwin's  principle  of  continuous  selection 
by  slow  variations  is  not  the  only,  and  perhaps  not  even 


8o  SOCIOLOGY 

the  chief,  method  for  the  origin  of  species  but  arguing 
that  variation  takes  place  at  times  by  leaps  (the  "sports" 
and  "freaks"  of  Darwinism)  and  that  these  may  result 
in  the  origin  of  new  species.  Finally,  Francis  Galton 
developed  his  earlier  teaching  respecting  "stirpiculture" 
into  the  new  science  of  eugenics,^  which  was  launched 
into  existence  by  his  presentation  of  papers  before  the 
English  Sociological  Society  (1904-1905).  His  theory, 
in  brief,  was  that  statistical  and  other  studies  of  heredity 
should  be  made,  so  as  to  ascertain  the  conditions  that 
would  best  aid  in  the  production  of  a  good  racial  stock. 
This  information,  in  respect  to  both  heredity  and  envi- 
ronment, should  then  be  taught  as  widely  as  possible,  so 
as  to  establish  scientific  standards  of  mating,  which 
should  be  enforced  by  a  powerful  public  opinion. 

Social  Importance  of  Biological  Teachings. — From 
this  brief  survey  of  the  development  of  teachings  in 
respect  to  parenthood,  life,  and  heredity,  it  may  be  pos- 
sible to  see  why  sociology  is  to  some  extent  dependent 
on  biology.  If  men  should  believe,  as  in  primitive  times, 
that  the  female  is  the  sole  parent  of  the  child,  or  that  if 
there  be  any  other  agency  it  is  supernatural  in  character, 
obviously  her  place  in  social  life  and  in  familial  relations 
would  be  quite  different  from  her  place  if,  by  contrast, 
the  male  believed,  as  in  patronymic  society,  that  he  was 
the  really  important  factor  in  parenthood.  Again,  his- 
tory plainly  teaches  how  important  an  influence  in  po- 
litical and  religious  leadership  has  been  the  belief  that 
gods  might  become  parents  of  human  beings.  Certainly 
profound  social  consequences  have  resulted  from  the  be- 
lief that  human  destiny  was  determined  absolutely  at 
birth  by  pre-natal  conditions  fixed  by  fate,  or  by  the  will 

'  A  word  he  coined  and  employed  in  1883. 


SOCIOLOGY  AND  BIOLOGY  8i 

of  the  gods,  or  because  of  acts  performed  in  previous 
existences,  or  of  some  impiety  committed  by  an  ancestor. 
Fairly  modern  illustrations  of  the  influence  exerted  by 
such  beliefs  may  be  seen  by  considering  the  psychological 
effects  of  such  dismal  teaching  is  respect  to  heredity  as 
may  be  found  in  the  former  religious  dogmas  of  pre- 
destination and  innate  depravity,  with  their  implications 
of  ultimate  damnation  to  infant  and  adult  alike,  unless 
that  by  God's  grace  some  few  had  been  elected  to  salva- 
tion from  the  beginning  of  time. 

It  was  against  the  ecclesiastical  consequences  of  such 
teachings  that  the  Eighteenth  Century  revolted  in  declar- 
ing with  iMethodism  that  grace  and  salvation  were  free, 
or  with  French  philosophers  in  asserting  that  men  were 
born  good  and  kindly,  and  that  evil  in  the  world  came 
not  from  divine  fiat  or  from  anything  inherent  in  nature 
or  man  but  from  unnatural  ambitions  of  men  and  ad- 
verse environmental  conditions.  These,  therefore,  ar- 
gued that  peace  and  good  will  can  come  only  when  men 
clearly  understand  the  social  situation  through  scientific 
knowledge  and  restore  natural  conditions  by  overthrow- 
ing artifical  institutions,  devised  by  cunning  and  selfish 
men.  This  delightful  generalization,  empirical  though 
it  was,  was,  as  already  indicated,  a  reaction  against  the 
pessimistic  views  of  heredity  taught  by  religion,  since  it 
was  held  with  Locke  that  every  child  born  started  life 
with  a  clean  slate  (tabula  rasa),  as  it  were,  and  by  right 
instruction,  training,  and  environment,  might  become 
a  paragon  of  goodness  and  intelligence.  The  teaching 
of  Lamarck  was  in  line  with  this  school  of  thought,  for 
if  use  and  disuse  tended  to  determine  inherited  charac- 
ters, then  right  instruction  and  environment  would  tend 
to  determine  the  survival  of  characters  making  for  jus- 


82  SOCIOLOGY 

tice  and  virtue.  This  general  attitude  of  mind,  so  far  as 
it  affected  the  status  of  women,  received  a  powerful  sup- 
port from  the  scientific  discovery  of  Von  Baer,  which 
gave  the  female  an  equal,  if  not  superior,  place  to  the 
male  in  parenthood,  thus  depriving  him  of  his  age-long 
prestige  as  the  really  important  parent  in  procreation, 
with  its  implication  that  the  male  must  necessarily  be  the 
superior  sex. 

This  antagonism  between  a  pessimistic  religious  teach- 
ing in  respect  to  heredity  and  the  optimistic,  agnostic  hu- 
manitarianism  of  the  Eighteenth  Century  arguing  for  the 
all  importance  of  environment  in  social  development,  is  in 
many  respects,  the  key  to  the  modern  discussions  of  the 
relationship  between  sociology  and  biology;  for  Darwin- 
ism,'^ in  a  sense,  took  the  place  of  religion  in  arguing 
pessimistically  for  heredity  and  against*  environment.  It 
taught,  for  example,  that  man  began  as  an  evolution  from 
animal  forms  and,  consequently,  has  inherited  brutish 
instincts.  After  a  few  hundred  thousand  years  of  strug- 
gle and  a  weary  round  of  endless  bloodshed  and  pain 
economy,  he  has  attained  a  condition  of  semi-respecti- 
bility,  which  in  the  course  of  other  myriads  of  years  may 
become  so  ingrained  by  eugenic  selection  as  to  amount  to 
inherited  Kiiltur.  The  dull  mediocre  masses  meanwhile 
should  rest  content  with  the  station  to  which  nature  as- 
signs them  with  its  bare  subsistence  wage,  and  its  mis- 
ery of  disease  and  iniquity.  Indeed,  they  should  be 
thankful  that  they  live  at  all  since  extermination  is  nat- 
urally their  portion.  For  success  belongs  rightly  to  the 
superior  "fit,"  who  by  physical  prowess  and  mental  cun- 
ning have  might  on  their  side  and  in  their  hearts  a  "will 
to  power."    Qualities  such  as  these  are  handed  on  in  the 

'  Including  in  this  term  his  successors  and  modifiers  also. 


SOCIOLOGY  AND  BIOLOGY  83 

eternal  germ  plasm  of  superior  stocks.  These  stocks 
furnish  genius  mutations  in  great  number,  and,  if  they 
can  be  discovered  by  Mendelian  investigations,  it  may 
become  eugenically  possible  slowly  to  eliminate  inferior 
stocks  of  humanity  and  substitute  in  their  stead  a  race 
of  supermen,  the  predestined  elect. 

It  is  not  necessary  at  this  time,  to  discuss  these  mat- 
ters more  minutely.  Obviously  teachings  such  as  these, 
if  scientifically  correct,  would  profoundly  modify  so- 
ciological teaching,  which  at  present  stresses  vigorously 
the  importance,  though  not  the  all-importance,  of  a  right 
social  environment,  as  a  necessity  for  social  progress. 
Such  an  emphasis  is  broadly  humanitarian  and  demo- 
cratic in  aim  but  if  the  Darwinian  teaching  of  endless 
struggle,  extermination,  and  survival  are  tO'  be  empha- 
sized to  the  exclusion  of  social  environment,  sociology 
must  change  its  tone  and  favor  the  chosen  elect  as  against 
the  gentile  masses.  There  is  a  probability,  however,  that 
the  emphasis  on  social  environment  may  yet  find  its  justi- 
fication in  biological,  as  well  as  in  sociological,  teaching, 
so  that  one  need  not  yet  become  a  pessimist  in  respect 
to  the  ultimate  survival  of  modern  beliefs  in  democracy. 


CHAPTER  VII 

SOCIOLOGY  AND  PSYCHOLOGY 

Sociology  and  Its  Basal  Sciences. — Since  sociology 
is  based  chiefly  on  the  biological  and  psychological  sci- 
ences, sociological  discussions  naturally  emphasize  anal- 
ogies and  vocabularies  derived  from  one  or  the  other  of 
these  sciences.  At  first,  under  the  impulse  given  by  Dar- 
winism, students  for  many  years  devoted  themselves  to 
what  may  be  called  a  biological  interpretation  of  society. 
Under  this  impulse  the  notion  that  society  was  funda- 
mentally an  organism  was  vigorously  emphasized,  as  for 
instance  by  Herbert  Spencer  and  especially  Schaffle.^ 
Then,  as  attention  passed  in  part  to  psychology  under  the 
new  light  thrown  on  mental  phenomena  by  physiological 
researches,  there  came  a  newer  interpretation  of  society 
which  tended  to  make  sociology  a  sort  of  supplementary 
chapter  in  psychology.  But  as  the  field  of  sociology  en- 
larges through  the  influence  and  the  knowledge  gained 
from  special  social  studies  of  all  sorts,  there  is  a  grow- 
ing conviction  that  although  there  may  be  much  valuable 
information  and  suggestion  from  the  two  basal  sciences, 
yet  such  knowledge  will  grow  relatively  less  important  as 
sociology  secures  possession  of  its  own  peculiar  field.  At 
present,  however,  sociological  terms  present  a  curious 
mixture  of  words  taken  from  the  exact  sciences  and  from 

*  Schiiffle,  Bau  und  Leben  dcs  Socialen  Korpers.  For  a  brief  dis- 
cussion of  the  organic  nature  of  society,  see  J.  S.  Mackenzie, 
Introduction  to  Social  Philosophy,  Chap.  III. 

84 


SOCIOLOGY  AND  PSYCHOLOGY  Ss 

biolog}''  and  psycholog>',  often  used  in  a  slightly  different 
sense  from  that  employed  by  writers  in  these  sciences. 
This  confusion  will  gradually  disappear  as  agreement  is 
slowly  reached  in  respect  to  the  terminology  to  be  em- 
ployed. 

Psychology  and  Sociology. — Of  the  two  basal  sci- 
ences, psychology  is  naturally  more  important  for  soci- 
ology, since  the  latter's  trend  toward  "prevision"  de- 
mands a  master)^  of  such  psychological  principles  as  would 
be  advantageous  in  the  guidance  of  human  activity  toward 
desired  ends.  This  is  obvious  if  we  realize  the  impor- 
tance of  mind  as  a  factor  in  civilization.  Knowledge  is 
the  basis  for  power,  and  a  social  group  is  intelligent  only 
when  composed  of  persons  who  have  well-trained  intel- 
lects, stored  with  a  large  fund  of  useful  information.  An 
intelligent  group  can  understand  the  conditions  and  pos- 
sibilities of  its  own  existence,  and  may  accelerate  its 
progress  by  telic  forethought.  Biological  analogies,  there- 
fore, relatively  lose  their  importance;  society  ceases  to 
be  thought  of  as  strictly  organic,  and  is  instead  looked 
on  as  a  psychic  unity,  a  super-organism,  wuth  emphasis 
on  the  social  aspect  of  psychic  relationships,  or  on  the 
process  whereby  men  become  and  remain  associated.  In 
this  transition  the  vocabulary  changed  from  biological 
terms,  such  as  "function,"  "structure,"  "heredity"  and 
"variation,"  and  began  to  make  use  of  the  terms  "social 
tnind,"  "desires,"  "volitions,"  "intellect,"  "consciousness" 
and  "will"  f  and  now  tends  to  use  terms  derived  from 
behavioristic  psychology. 

In  seeking  to  show  the  relationship  between  psychology 
and  sociology  it  is  natural,  first,  to  call  attention  to  the 

*  For  examples,  see  Giddings'  Principles  of  Sociology,  Book  IV, 
Chap.  IV,  and  his  Descriptive  and  Historical  Sociology,  Part  II. 


86  SOCIOLOGY 

teachings  of  Comte,  Spencer,  and  Lester  F.  Ward  in 
this  matter,  since  these  have  largely  influenced  later 
writers,  and  then  to  explain  other  points  of  view. 

Comte's  Psychology. — Comte  in  his  Polity  placed 
great  stress  on  the  feelings,  especially  sympathy  and 
altruism,  and  argued  that  the  afifectional  aspect  of  the 
mind  was  fundamental  and  reason  secondary.  In  his 
Philosophy,  on  the  other  hand,  as  already  explained,^  he 
stressed  his  three-stage  theory  of  the  evolution  of  human 
intelligence,  a  teaching  which  finds  many  illustrations  in 
earlier  centuries.  A  brief  comment,  therefore,  on  each 
of  these  stages  may  prove  of  interest. 

Stage  I. — It  is  obvious  that  in  any  comparison  be- 
tween man  and  animals  the  one  difference  of  over- 
shadowing importance  lies  in  his  enormous  superiority 
in  psychic  capacity.  This  superiority  is  more  evident  to 
men  of  civilized  races,  for  among  peoples  of  primitive 
or  low  civilization  the  distinction  is  not  so  obvious.  To 
them  there  seems  no  sharp  dividing  line  between  man 
and  animal  and  in  their  traditions  and  religious  teachings 
human  beings  and  animals  are  so  related  that  bodies  and 
souls  might  be  interchanged,  as  in  mythological  legend 
or  in  numerous  fairy  tales,  like  that  of  Beauty  and  the 
Beast.  Indeed,  there  are  many  totemistic  traditions  of 
the  animal  parentage  of  racial  stocks,  as  among  the 
Australian  blacks,  or  in  the  English  tradition  that  a 
bear  was  in  the  ancestral  line  of  the  noble  family  of 
Warwick. 

In  more  thoughtful  ages,  however,  when  men  began 
to  reflect  on  the  wide  disparity  of  mentality  between  them- 
selves and  animals,  it  seemed  obvious  to  them  that  so 
great  a  gift  must  have  come  directly  from  the  gods,  be- 
'  See  Chapter  I. 


SOCIOLOGY  AND  PSYCHOLOGY  87 

cause  of  their  interest  in  man.  ^schylus,  for  example, 
in  Prometheus  Bound  represents  the  Titan  as  explaining 
how  he,  pitying  cave-dwelHng  men  in  their  wretchedness, 
brought  the  divine  fire  of  reason  from  the  heavens  and 
taught  them  civiHzation,  ending  his  narration  with  the 
statement:  "And,  in  short,  learn  my  tale  in  brief.  All 
arts  came  to  men  through  Prometheus."  Milton  also  in 
his  Paradise  Lost  (Book  IV),  making  use  of  the  story 
of  creation  in  Genesis,  represents  Satan  as  discovering 
in  Eden 

Two  of  far  nobler  shape,  erect  and  tall, 
Godlike  erect,  with  native  honor  clad, 
In  naked  majesty  seem'd  lords  of  all ; 
And  worthy  seem'd,  for  in  their  looks  divine 
The  image  of  their  glorious  Maker  shone, 
Truth,  wisdom,  sanctitude  severe  and  pure, — 
Whence  the  true  authority  in  men. 

In  the  same  manner  the  appearance  on  earth  of  heroes 
and  the  greatness  of  kings  were  readily  explained  on 
the  theory  of  divine  parenthood,  just  as  the  power  and 
inspiration  of  genius  or  prophet  were  ascribed  to  the 
influence  of  an  indwelling  god  or  as  a  mark  of  favor, 
as  in  the  account  of  God's  bestowal  of  wisdom  and  riches 
on  Solomon  (II  Chronicles,  Chap.  I).  By  contrast  in- 
sanity was  supposed  to  be  sent  by  the  gods  as  a  punish- 
ment for  impiety  or  some  great  wickedness.  In  later 
Christian  centuries  the  Devil  also  was  supposed  to  have 
power  to  bestow  wisdom  on  men  in  exchange  for  their 
souls,  or  to  make  men  insane  by  taking  possession  of 
their  minds.  Beliefs  such  as  these,  strongly  held  as 
they  were,  obviously  had  important  consequences  in  re- 
ligious practices  and  social  policy. 


88  SOCIOLOGY 

Stage  II. — In  more  metaphysical  ages  the  human  mind 
was  studied  apart  from  theological  presuppositions  and 
was  analyzed  into  its  three  aspects,  each  considered  as  a 
sort  of  entity  and  conventionalized  under  the  terms,  "in- 
tellect," "will,"  "feelings."  Of  these  the  intellect  with 
its  ability  to  reason  and  to  speculate  seemed  so  preemi- 
nent that  it  was  conceived  of  as  related  to  or  as  a  part 
of  a  cosmic  mind,  the  eternal  reason,  from  which  it 
emanated  and  to  which  it  would  ultimately  return.  In 
consequence,  the  supreme  attainment  possible  to  a  philoso- 
pher was  to  free  his  reason  from  the  blindness  natural 
to  humanity,  so  as  to  will  its  return  to  the  ultimate 
reason  of  the  universe.  The  feelings,  thought  of  as 
physical  in  type,  were  classed  as  inferior;  they  were  a 
sort  of  dross,  a  defilement  to  the  pure  light  of  reason, 
and  hence,  as  in  Buddhism  or  asceticism,  they  should 
generally  be  ignored  and  suppressed  as  much  as  possible. 
If  this  be  done,  then  the  will,  freed  from  the  domination 
of  the  feelings  and  enlightened  through  the  intellect, 
would  become  free  and  would  consciously  select  in  con- 
duct the  right  and  the  good. 

Again,  there  was  among  Eastern  peoples  generally  a  be- 
lief in  a  sort  of  ancient  golden  age  when  men  were 
naturally  kindly,  sympathetic,  just,  and  reasonable.* 
From  this  delightful  estate  men  had  fallen  through  am- 
bition or  covetousness,  so  that  these  original  qualities 
of  the  mind  were  obscured  through  the  artificialities  of 
civilization,  which  were  thought  of  as  evil.  By  a  return 
to  simplicity  in  thought  and  life,  however,  these  original 
qualities  might  be  regained  in  their  original  vigor  and  thus 
evil  would  be  banished  from  human  society. 

*The   "state  of  nature"   of  the  early  modern  advocates   of  the 
"social  contract." 


SOCIOLOGY  AND  PSYCHOLOGY  89 

Intermediate  between  these  first  and  second  stages  was 
the  tendency  to  deify  these  three  aspects  of  the  mind,  as 
in  Greek  mythology,  so  that  there  was  a  god  or  goddess 
of  reason,  or  of  creative  energy  or  will,  or  again  of  fun- 
damental desires,  such  as  the  gods  and  goddesses  of  food 
and  drink,  or  of  sex  passion,  eagerness  for  wealth,  or 
joy  in  warring. 

Such  teachings  and  opinions  affected  social  activities 
so  that  social  history  even  down  to  the  present  century 
might  be  considered  as  the  rise  into  prominence  and 
fall  into  obscurity  of  theories  of  ascetic  renunciation  and 
the  simple  life;  or  the  glorification  of  reason  as  the  su- 
preme achievement  of  creation;  or  stress  on  the  neces- 
sity of  controlling  the  feelings  and  guiding  the  will 
through  intelligence,  so  as  to  attain  some  desired  goal. 
Occasionally,  as  in  late  Epicureanism,  or  in  the  "return 
to  nature"  school  of  the  Eighteenth  Century,  typified  by 
Rousseau,  the  feelings  are  considered  as  more  funda- 
mental and  important  than  reason,  so  that  indulgence  in 
natural  desires,  in  emotionalism,  and  in  ecstatic  aspira- 
tions is  strongly  favored  as  tending  to  happiness. 

Stage  III. — In  these  older  theories  the  mind  is  looked 
9n  as  a  thing  apart  from  the  body,  unfortunately  con- 
nected with  it  to  be  sure,  but  longing  always  to  be  free, 
that  it  may  most  fully  realize  itself.  Again,  it  was  not 
thought  of  as  evolved,  but  rather  as  having  come  to 
existence  complete,  as  is  shown  in  the  legend  of  Adam, 
and  of  the  birth  of  Athene,  the  goddess  of  wisdom,  who 
was  born  from  the  head  of  Zeus  in  full  perfection.  The 
Nineteenth  Century  overthrew  both  of  these  conceptions. 
Through  the  rise  of  physiological  psychology  psychic 
phenomena  have  come  to  be  considered  as  definitely  as- 
sociated with  the  physiological  nervous  system  centering 


90  SOCIOLOGY 

in  the  brain,  so  that  in  the  extreme  mechanistic  inter- 
pretation of  animal  and  human  behaviorism  mentaHty 
is  merely  "a  secretion  of  matter"  or  the  by-product  of 
physiological  processes,  which,  when  fully  understood, 
may  be  expressed  mathematically.  Through  Spencerian 
and  Darwinian  hypotheses  also,  the  mind  is  no  longer 
thought  of  as  a  creation  by  divine  fiat,  or  as  an  emana- 
tion or  spark  from  a  cosmic  mind.  Rather  the  attempt 
is  made  to  trace  it  as  the  resultant  of  an  highly  or- 
ganized chemical  compound,  evolving  into  primordial  life 
forms,  from  which  slowly,  after  millions  of  years,  evolve 
higher  organisms  with  complex  nervous  systems,  at  the 
head  of  which  stands  man,  since  he  has  the  relatively 
largest  and  most  complex  nervous  mechanism,  with  a 
resultant  greater  capacity  to  feel,  to  think,  and  to  resolve 
on  hues  of  action. 

When  sociology  began  as  a  science  under  Comte,  he 
naturally  ignored  religious  and  metaphysical  teachings  in 
respect  to  psychology  and  sought  a  positivistic  basis  for 
psychological  teachings.  Phrenology,  as  taught  by  Gall 
at  that  time,  seemed  to  supply  the  need,  since  it  seemed 
to  identify  psychic  processes  with  the  physical  brain,  so 
that  Comte  with  intuitive  vision  saw,  as  he  thought,  that 
psychology  was  merely  an  aspect  of  biology;  he  therefore 
refused  a  place  for  it  in  his  series  of  sciences,  referring 
to  it  as  a  sort  of  transcendental  biology.  Phrenology 
soon  passed  into  the  hands  of  charlatans  and  fell  into 
disrepute,  but  its  underlying  idea,  that  there  is  a  definite 
connection  between  the  physiological  system  and  men- 
tality, has  been  taken  up  scientifically  by  biological  ex- 
perts in  histology  and  in  the  anatomy  of  the  nervous 
system,  as  well  as  by  behaviorists  in  psychology. 

The  behavioristic  interpretation  of  psychic  phenomena 


SOCIOLOGY  AND  PSYCHOLOGY  91 

is  still  comparatively  modern  and  is  by  no  means  accepted 
by  all  as  the  final  solution  of  psychic  problems.  Hence, 
in  the  world  of  social  theorizing,  there  are  many  diver- 
gent points  of  view  basing  themselves  chiefly  on  the 
older  philosophic  teachings.  In  general,  communists  and 
anarchists  in  their  interpretations  of  human  nature  are 
inclined  to  emphasize  the  naive  notion  of  a  natural  golden 
age  of  human  goodness  and  virtue,  to  which  men  may 
return  by  a  simple  life,  freeing  themselves  from  the  arti- 
ficial conventions  of  religion,  government,  and  economic 
striving,  and  getting  back  to  the  soil,  to  the  village  or- 
ganization, and  to  a  homely  environment  untroubled  by 
contacts  with  the  turmoil  and  degeneracy  of  civilization. 
In  such  theories  reason  plays  no  important  part,  the 
supposedly  natural  feelings  of  sympathy,  sociability,  and 
social  justice  are  stressed,  and  the  intellect  finds  its  chief 
function  in  repressing  evil  ambitions  and  in  maintaining 
a  static  paradise.^ 

Other  theorists,  Utopian  in  spirit,  but  emphasizing 
evolutionary  teaching,  think  of  anything  primitive  or 
ancient  in  man  or  society  as  necessarily  evil,  so  that, 
exalting  their  own  conclusions  and  ideals  as  standard, 
they  would  place  tabus  on  elemental  passions,  eliminate 
ancient  customs,  traditions,  and  teachings  as  belittling 
to  an  "enhghtened  civilization,"  and  would  substitute 
brand  neiv  systems  made  to  order,  so  that  henceforth 
progress  would  walk  a  straight  line  towards  the  social 
goal  instead  of  pursuing  a  wobbling  path  like  that  made 
by  the  steps  of  a  drunken  man. 

Others  again,   following  Spencer,  comprehending  the 

•Plato's  Republic,  Pastor  Wagner's  Simple  Life,  Carpenter's 
Civilisation,  Its  Cause  and  Cure,  and  Tolstoi's  teachings  are  all 
good  illustrations  of  this  point  of  view. 


92  SOCIOLOGY 

eternal  slowness  of  psychic  development  deprecate  the 
intrusion  into  natural  processes  of  the  human  intellect  as 
a  factor  in  progress,  arguing  that  human  intelligence  is 
so  low  in  attainment  that  any  attempt  to  expedite  natural 
processes  by  human  reason  would  likely  result  in  thwart- 
ing natural  progress  by  the  "interference"  of  blundering 
panaceas,  thus  retarding  the  slow  upward  march  of 
civilization.  The  intellect,  to  be  sure,  has  an  important 
function  in  seeking  to  develop  scientific  knowledge  and 
to  make  applications  of  this  to  material  inventions  and 
achievements,  but  social  phenomena,  it  is  argued,  are 
entirely  too  complex  for  scientific  comprehension,  at  the 
present  state  of  mental  development  at  least,  so  that  a 
policy  of  laissez-faire  in  social  reform  should  be  vigor- 
ously maintained,  in  order  that  social  progress  may  be 
made  through  nature's   processes. 

Spencer's  Psychology. — Spencer,  in  his  Principles 
of  Psychology  thinks  of  the  mind  as  made  up  of  two 
aspects,  feelings  and  the  relations  between  these,  the 
percepts  of  the  mind.  As  in  Comte's  Polity,  sympathy 
plays  an  important  role  in  social  activities.  Mind  is 
considered  entirely  from  the  physiological  standpoint, 
and  the  human  mind  as  an  evolution  from  animal  mind. 
In  this  genetic  study  he  shows  the  relation  between  sen- 
sations and  emotions  (originating  from  within),  between 
instincts  (compound  reflex  actions)  and  habits,  and  be- 
tween perception  (the  initial  process  of  mental  opera- 
tion) and  reason,  all  from  a  study  of  the  nervous  sys- 
tem and  brain  mechanism.  Such  studies,  coupled  with 
his  teachings  respecting  the  evolution  of  social  insti- 
tutions, readily  formed  the  basis  for  behaviorism  and  for 
the  numerous  genetic  and  specialized  studies  of  the  mind 


SOCIOLOGY  AND  PSYCHOLOGY  93 

such  as  child,  adolescent,  sex,  race,  and  group  psychology 
and  all  sorts  of  mental  abnormalities. 

Ward's  Psychology. — Lester  F.  Ward,  in  his  Dy- 
namic Sociology,  was  the  first  American  sociologist  to 
turn  away  definitely  from  the  biological  bias  of  Spencer 
and  to  suggest  a  psychological  basis  for  his  system  of 
sociology.  In  substance  his  conclusions  are  as  follows: 
The  historically  fundamental  part  of  the  mind  is  the 
feelings,  which  supply  to  the  individual  and  to  society 
dynamic  energy.  These  feelings,  evolved  from  the  sim- 
ple fundamental  hunger- feeling  of  undifferentiated  bi- 
ological organisms,  in  evolutionary  process  became  the 
mass  of  physical,  emotional,  and  intellectual  desires  and 
aspirations  now  recognized  in  human  nature.  As  an  aid 
to  the  organism  in  the  struggle  for  survival.  Intellect 
slowly  evolved  as  a  guide  to  the  feelings;  first,  in  its 
unconscious  intuitional  forms,  then,  in  its'^iapacity  for 
semi-conscious  or  fully  conscious  reasoning,  and  finally 
into  a  grasp  on  broad  generalization  and  a  deep  insight 
into  truth.  Applying  this  teaching  to  sociology,  he  then 
argues  that  the  social  mind,  which  is  merely  the  general- 
ization of  the  individual  minds  that  compose  the  group, 
may  be  considered  as  made  up  of  social  feelings  and  a 
social  intellect.  The  social  feelings  are  the  social  forces 
or  desires,  and  ever  seek  by  activity  to  satisfy  the  crav- 
ings of  society.  Such  feelings  may  be  physical  or  cul- 
tural in  aim.  Through  the  physical  feelings  society 
craves  race  survival  through  food,  and  race  continuance 
through  sexual  reproduction.  Hence,  the  primary  social 
activities  are  food-getting  and  mating,  and  from  these 
arise,  in  due  process,  secondary  physical  desires  and  also 
cultural  or  spiritual  desires  for  what  is  good,  beautiful, 
and  true. 


94  SOCIOLOGY 

If,  however,  feelings  fundamentally  dictated  activity, 
society  would  be  involved  in  a  constant  struggle  of  con- 
flicting human  desires,  without  harmony  except  through 
force,  and  ultimately  self-destruction  would  ensue  through 
emphasis  on  pleasure  to  the  neglect  of  safety.  Hence 
arises  by  slow  evolution  the  intellect,  which  perceives 
ways  and  means  of  attaining  ends  and  shows  the  ad- 
vantage of  individual  self-restraint  and  social  coopera- 
tion. Slowly  the  social  intellect  works  out  restraints  and 
regulations,  laws  and  customs,  ideals  and  principles,  and 
guides  the  energy  of  physical  feelings  into  higher  emo- 
tions and  ambitions.  From  that  time  forth  society 
strives  not  merely  to  satisfy  physical  feelings,  but  to 
gratify  also  its  desire  for  moral  standards,  aesthetic 
ideals,  and  intellectual  truths,  thus  passing  from  a  physi- 
cal to  a  cultural  basis.  As  the  intellect  gains  a  larger 
place  in  the  mind,  it  becomes  able  to  formulate  ideals  not 
simply  for  individual  guidance,  but  for  social  guidance 
also,  and  hence  society  passes  intO'  the  stage  of  "collective 
telesis"  ^  and  deliberately  plans  out  its  future.  This  it 
accomplishes  by  formulating  for  itself  a  goal  for  social 
energy;  it  then  ascertains  the  best  methods  of  attaining 
this  and  guides  the  activity  of  the  social  feelings  or 
forces  in  the  desired  direction."^ 

Behaviorism. — Studies  in  respect  to  the  human  mind 
such  as  those  of  Comte,  Spencer,  and  Ward  are  empirical 
and  philosophic  in  kind  and  seek  to  formulate  a  psychic 
philosophy  on  the  basis  of  which  sociology  may  be  erected. 
Such  a  basis  is  certainly  necessary  unless  behaviorism, 
which  in  method  is  positive  and  objective,  can  supply  a 
better.     Behaviorism  is  still  comparatively  new;  its  en- 

*  Ward's  Outlines  of  Sociology,  Chap.  XII. 
'  See  especially  Ward's  Psychic  Factors. 


SOCIOLOGY  AND  PSYCHOLOGY  95 

ergy  so  far,  rightly,  has  chiefly  been  expended  on  animal 
behavior,  and  it  is  not  Hkely  that  for  years  much  result 
will  be  attained  from  the  study  of  human  behavior,  that 
would  prove  especially  helpful  to  sociology.  Its  methods 
of  study,  of  course,  are  not  peculiar  to  itself,  since  they 
are  the  usual  methods  of  science,  and  they  have  long  been 
used  by  social  scientists  in  the  study  of  what  is  generally 
called  "social  psychology." 

Behavorism  is  an  attempt  to  supply  a  mechanical,  phys- 
iological explanation  of  animal  and  human  movements 
or  actions  by  noting  under  controlled  conditions  what 
action  on  the  part  of  the  organism  results  under  varying 
stimuli.  Its  methods  are  the  usual  scientific  methods  of 
observation,  comparison,  and  experimentation  so  that  the 
study  is  objective  in  character.  The  study  implies  a 
knowledge  of  anatomical  structure  and  physiological 
processes,  at  least  so  far  as  these  relate  to  the"  nervous 
system  and  its  functioning,  and  also  a  knowledge  of  the 
external  stimuli  that  may  affect  the  organism.  In  the 
study  of  animal  behavior  a  knowledge  of  trophism  and 
reflex  activity  is  fundamental,  supplemented  in  the  case 
of  higher  organisms  by  a  knowledge  of  complex  reflexes 
or  instincts.®  Instincts,  it  should  be  noted,  are  inherited, 
never  acquired,  and  presumably  increase  in  number  with 
growth  in  the  complexity  of  the  nervous  system,  since 
the  more  complex  the  nervous  system  becomes,  the  greater 
is  the  possibility  of  multiplying  systems  of  coordinated 

*  If  an  organism  is  moved  to  act  directly  by  the  environment,  not 
through  the  intermediary  of  a  nervous  system,  these  direct  re- 
actions are  tropistic.  If  the  environment  acts  on  the  organism  in- 
directly through  a  nervous  system  this  indirect  action  is  a  reflex. 
A  system  of  coordinated  reflexes  is  properly  an  instinct.  Direct 
reactions  and  indirect  actions  in  process  of  time  become  by  selec- 
tion automatic  and  are  inherited,  so  that  reflex  actions  and  instincts 
are  inherent  in  the  organism,  ready  to  respond  automatically  under 
proper  environment. 


96  SOCIOLOGY 

reflexes.  An  instinctive  act,  since  instincts  are  inherited, 
is  performed  without  previous  experience  or  training 
when  the  appropriate  stimulus  affects  the  organism,  there- 
fore, no  knowledge  or  foresight  is  involved.  When,  in 
the  case  of  higher  organisms,  experience  enters  as  a  fac- 
tor, or  in  the  case  of  man,  experience,  memory,  and 
ideation,  instinctive  acts  may  be  inhibited,  or  on  the  other 
hand  reen forced,  owing  to  the  associational  centers  in 
the  brain  connected  with  the  several  instincts.  Human 
activity,  therefore,  is  rarely  purely  instinctive  after  ex- 
periences have  become  coordinated  in  the  brain.  For, 
owing  to  these  associational  centers,  painful  or  pleasurable 
feelings  or  emotions  accompany  instinctive  actions  so  that 
human  behavior  may  be  determined  in  part  by  the  an- 
ticipation of  immediate  pain  or  pleasure,  or  in  part  by 
the  reasoning  processes,  which  through  the  frequency  or 
intensity  of  memory  associations,  determine  the  line  of 
activity  to  be  followed  from  the  basis  of  ultimate  or  fu- 
ture utility  in  terms  of  happiness  or  misery.  The  more 
coordinated  experiences  a  person  has,  therefore,  the  less 
he  is  governed  by  his  instincts.  In  higher  civilization  a 
person  systematically  places  checks  on  his  instincts  for 
reasons  based  on  personal  or  social  experience.  The 
sexual  instinct,  for  example,  is  held  in  check  by  feelings 
of  modesty  and  chastity,  by  standards  of  virtue,  by  re- 
spect for  conventional  morals,  or  by  prudential  consid- 
erations based  on  physical  or  economic  well-being.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  sexual  instinct  reenforced  by  moral, 
religious,  or  aesthetic  emotions  (sublimation)  may  ex- 
press itself  in  the  higher  aspects  of  conjugal  or  parental 
life  or  in  spiritual  activities  of  a  religious  or  philan- 
thropic sort.  In  the  behaviorism  of  social  groups,  there- 
fore, it  may  be  possible  to  study  the  social  activities  of 


SOCIOLOGY  AND  PSYCHOLOGY  97 

groups  acting  largely  through  instincts,  but  such  activi- 
ties would  be  low  in  kind  and  manifested  chiefly  in  some- 
what primitive  communities  or  by  groups  in  higher  civil- 
ization when,  under  the  stimulus  of  some  wild  excitement, 
the  barriers  erected  by  experience  and  reason  against 
instinctive  actions  are  swept  away  and  such  instincts  as 
pugnacity  or  sexual  passion  come  to  the  front.  Illustra- 
tions of  such  are  common  as  in  mob  riots,  lynchings, 
sadism,  or  in  the  fury  of  war  and  massacre. 

There  are  in  addition  to  instincts,  certain  general  in- 
born tendencies  in  associational  centers,  from  which 
ready  responses  are  obtained  when  the  appropriate  stimuli 
suggest  specialized  lines  of  activity.  These  are  often 
referred  to  as  instincts  and  may  be  thought  of  as  in- 
stincts in  the  making,  but  they  are  by  no  means  so  deeply 
rooted,  so  automatic  in  their  action,  nor  presumably  are' 
they  common  to  all  normal  men,  as  instincts  are  con- 
sidered to  be.  Then,  too,  there  are  individual  differences 
in  inherited  general  mental  capacities  such  as  the  capacity 
to  observe,  to  retain  in  mind,  to  imagine,  and  the  varying 
capacities  involving  the  processes  of  sensation. 

These  instinctive  and  mental  inheritances  combined, 
form  the  basis  for  mental  suggestibility,  so  that  a  highly 
suggestible  person  readily  acts  when  suggestions  enter  the 
mind  and  arouse  related  activities  from  associational 
centers. 

Thus,  the  tendency,  for  example,  to  play  or  to  imitate, 
readily  responds  in  activities  appropriate  to  the  kind  of 
suggestion  that  presents  itself  to  the  mind  through  some 
sensation.  These  activities  are  usually  performed  spon- 
taneously and  almost  or  altogether  unconsciously.  A 
quite  large  part  of  our  usual  experience  is  of  this  sort, 
since  we  perform  our  daily  routine  at  the  suggestion  of 


98  SOCIOLOGY 

a  clock  or  uttered  sound  or  at  the  sight  of  some  familiar 
scene.  But,  reasoning  may  enter  into  the  matter  when 
one  having  a  well  understood  purpose  deliberately  sub- 
mits himself  to  a  series  of  suggestions,  so  that  through 
conscious  imitation  he  may  attain  the  definite  end  in 
mind.  Training,  for  example,  in  athletics  or  in  military 
tactics,  may  be  so  thoroughly  done  that  in  process  of 
time  the  deliberate  imitation  of  models  through  a  series 
of  suggestions  results  in  the  practically  automatic  move- 
ments characteristic  of  a  well-trained  team  or  a  regi- 
ment. In  such  cases,  however,  suggestibility  and  sug- 
gestion are  utilized  as  means  to  an  end,  so  that  the  really 
important  factor  is  the  human  intellect  in  its  capacity  to 
form  ideas,  purposes,  and  judgments.^  Obviously,  there- 
fore, in  the  study  of  the  social  process  the  various  factors 
of  instinct,  inherited  mental  tendency  and  capacity,  and 
intellect  must  be  clearly  differentiated  and  comprehended, 
so  as  to  see  the  connection  between  them  and  social  ac- 
tivities. 

Freudianism. — The  above  explanation  is  also  at  the 
basis  of  the  Freudian  "psychology  of  the  unconscious." 
Deep-rooted,  vigorous  instincts,  inhibited  and  suppressed 
under  the  decree  of  social  conventions,  customs,  and  be- 
liefs, may  unconsciously  be  struggling  for  expression  and 
produce  in  consequence  a  somewhat  abnormal  psychic  be- 
havior. The  suppression  of  sex  passion,  for  example, 
produces  much  abnormality  in  conduct,  and  the  blood- 
lust  inherent  in  human  nature,  but  suppressed  in  a  paci- 
fistic  civilization,  asserts  itself  in  riots,  murder,  and  lynch- 
ings,  or  in  the  joy  of  economic  cut-throat  competition. 

'The  term  "intellect"  itself  needs  explanation  but  that  properly 
belongs  to  the  psychologists.  For  behavioristic  purposes  it  may  be 
thought  of  as  that  which  results  from  the  integration  of  instinctive 
and  associational  centers. 


SOCIOLOGY  AND  PSYCHOLOGY  gg 

In  times  of  war  it  finds  itself  at  home  in  battle  when 
men  "see  red"  and  become  atavistic  in  the  slaughter  of 
the  enemy.  The  energy  of  a  suppressed  wish  such  as  sex 
passion  may,  on  the  other  hand,  by  the  process  of  sub- 
limation be  transferred  to  some  other  field,  such  as  the 
religious,  the  aesthetic,  or  the  intellectual. 

The  Freudian  method  of  psychoanalysis,  which  is  based 
on  the  utilization  of  our  knowledge  respecting  the  asso- 
ciation of  ideas,  aims  to  form  an  estimate  of  the  mental 
situation,  so  as  to  suggest  a  remedy  in  the  case  of  abnor- 
mal behavior,  either  by  making  suitable  explanations  or 
by  suggesting  the  proper  line  of  activity,  in  accordance 
with  the  process  of  sublimination.  Freudian  psychology, 
however,  should  not  be  restricted  to  the  study  in  indi- 
viduals of  suppressed  instincts  only.  The  higher  desires 
and  emotions,  likewise,  may  be  inhibited  by  adverse  en- 
vironment and  defective  or  deficient  education.  Such  in- 
hibitions result  often  in  the  bitterness  of  a  rabid  fanati- 
cism and  the  morbid  attitude  towards  life  so  frequently 
displayed  by  intellectually  gifted  persons,  compelled  for 
economic  reasons  to  forego  educational  advantages  and  to 
engage  in  poorly  paid  manual  toil.  In  the  same  manner 
vigorously  felt  group  desires  may  be  suppressed,  as  in  the 
case  of  a  down-trodden  proletariat  or  an  enslaved  nation, 
full  of  memories  of  former  greatness.  But  in  group 
suppressions  Freudianism  passes  into  social  behavior  and 
forms  an  important  aspect  of  that  study,  hardly  as  yet 
investigated  from  the  standpoint  of  psychology. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


SOCIAL   BEHAVIORISM 


In  the  explanation  of  behaviorism  already  given  may 
be  noted  the  general  character  of  the  phenomena  that 
logically  should  be  taken  into  consideration  in  the  study 
of  social  behaviorism.  These  are  of  three  classes  and 
involve  a  comprehension  of  (i)  structure,  (2)  the  func- 
tioning process,  and  (3)  action  under  stimulus. 

Social  Structure. — The  subject  of  social  structure 
properly  is  not  a  part  of  social  behaviorism.  Structure 
is  merely  a  mechanism,  a  means  through  which  function- 
ing takes  place.  Functioning  and  resultant  action  are 
properly  social  behaviorism,  but  one  needs  a  knowledge 
of  the  skeleton  and  body  before  he  can  fully  compre- 
hend the  functioning  of  the  structure.  Now  the  study 
of  social  structure  would  involve  a  comprehension  of 
society  or  the  social  group  as  a  whole,  and  an  analysis 
of  this  into  its  interrelated  parts.  The  unity  and  its  parts 
would  be  assumed  to  be  at  rest  or  static,  although,  of 
course,  society  as  a  whole  is  never  at  rest  but  is  always  in 
movement.  This  structural  unity  of  society  is  often 
termed  in  sociology  the  "social  organization"  or  the  "so- 
cial order,"  and  its  interrelated  parts  are  the  "social  in- 
stitutions," both  permanent  and  temporary  in  kind.  A 
study  of  social  structure,  therefore,  would  involve  a 
comprehension  of  the  social  organization  in  its  several 
genetic  stages,  and  of  the  several  fundamental  social  in- 


SOCIAL  BEHAVIORISM  loi 

stitutions,  each  with  its  hierarchy  of  subordinate  insti- 
tutions, traced  in  their  development. 

In  the  study  of  social  structure,  the  evolutionary  teach- 
ing of  Spencer  set  the  fashion  of  starting  with  the  primi- 
tive horde  as  the  germ  of  social  organization,  and  then 
tracing  that  historically  through  its  various  differentia- 
tions and  integrations.  Growth  in  structure  involves  a 
corresponding  growth  in  function  under  the  stimulus  of 
a  growing  complexity  of  environment,  so  that  the  study 
of  structure,  process,  and  stimulus  cannot,  except  logic- 
ally, be  kept  separate.  The  study  of  any  one  involves  a 
corresponding  study  of  the  others,  though  the  one  under 
special  observation  may  be  considered  for  the  time  as 
dominant  and  the  others  recessive. 

Primitive  Social  Structure. — In  the  light  of  present 
knowledge  little  can  be  said  about  the  structure  of  the 
primitive  group.  Some  hold  that  man  may  have  ap- 
peared on  the  earth  a  million  years  ago,  others  maintain 
that  perhaps  a  quarter  of  that  time  would  be  nearer  the 
mark.  At  any  rate,  any  definite  knowledge  of  a  really 
tangible  sort  for  social  purposes  would  hardly  extend 
back  more  than  about  twenty-five  thousand  years,  the 
latter  part  of  the  paleolithic  age.  Ten  thousand  years 
ago  would  place  us  in  the  European  neolithic  age,  about 
which  we  have  a  fair  degree  of  knowledge.  From  a  study 
of  our  nearest  animal  kindred,  the  gorilla,  the  chimpanzee, 
and  the  orang-outang,  some  notion  of  the  primitive  group 
may  be  had.  This  can  be  supplemented  by  studies  of 
primitive  types  of  existing  races,  as  supplied  by  ethnolog- 
ical studies,  and  the  two  then  compared  with  what  is 
known  of  European  paleolithic  and  neolithic  civilization 
and  similar  information  obtainable  from  other  parts  of 
the  world. 


102  SOCIOLOGY 

As  the  conclusions  of  such  studies,  it  is  usual  to  as- 
sume the  existence  in  late  primitive  times  of  a  sort  of 
undifferentiated  group,  the  horde,  with  a  membership 
varying  from  a  score  or  so,  up  to  one  or  two  hundred. 
The  horde  was  not  a  family,  though  its  members  were 
doubtless  akin  by  blood  and  lived  in  family  relationship ; 
it  was  not  a  war  band,  though  its  males  were  presum- 
ably organized  for  attack  or  defense;  it  was  not  organ- 
ized for  religious  purposes,  though  superstitious  beliefs 
had  surely  developed  and  also  rude  rites  of  propitiation; 
but  it  was  fundamentally  a  band  for  food-getting  pur- 
poses and  remained  united  because  of  propinquity  and 
for  reasons  based  on  utility.  Simple  groups  such  as  this, 
starting  possibly  in  the  forests  and  grassy  plains  of  Asia, 
multiplied  for  thousands  of  years,  migrated  slowly  into 
the  many  parts  of  the  earth,  differentiating  their  social 
structure  into  specialized  organs  for  government,  war, 
religion,  family,  and  industry,  and  varying  these  as  con- 
ditions and  necessity  demanded,  until  with  the  passing  of 
centuries  there  developed  the  exceedingly  complex  social 
organization  of  modern  civilization,  widely  variant  as  it 
is  in  different  climates  and  races. 

The  Functioning  Process. — The  term  "function"  is 
naturally  coupled  with  the  term  "structure,"  but  func- 
tion involves  the  notion  of  process  so  that  one  may  study 
the  functioning  or  work  perfonned  by  the  social  struc- 
ture, or  preferably  may  go  behind  that  and  endeavor  to 
explain  the  social  processes  at  work  that  result  in  func- 
tioning. In  the  study  of  the  social  process  or  processes, 
one  should  seek  to  comprehend  the  psychic  desires  that 
energize  the  social  organism ;  the  ways  in  which  these  in- 
teract and  form  "structures"  through  which  they  work; 
and  the  ways   whereby   stimuli    from   the   environment 


SOCIAL  BEHAVIORISM  103 

arouse  "interests"  in  the  social  mind,  culminating  in 
actions  of  widely  varying  character.  It  is  essential,  there- 
fore, that  there  be  a  brief  explanation  in  respect  to 
familiar  sociological  theories  of  social  desires  and  inter- 
ests. 

Ri^e  of  Social  Interests. — Society  has  already  been 
explained  as  a  human  group  held  in  association  because 
of  common  interests.  Each  individual  in  the  group  has, 
of  course,  his  own  special  interests,  but  most  of  his  in- 
terests, as  a  sociiis,  are  common  also  to  his  fellows,  so 
that  there  are  general  interests  or  a  general  welfare  to  be 
considered.  General  interests  of  this  sort  must  have 
developed  quite  early  in  civilization.  We  know  through 
anthropological  studies  that  primitive  man  living  in  horde 
groups,  subsisted  either  on  natural  foods  or  on  such 
as  he  obtained  by  hunting  or  fishing.  Weapons  and  skulls 
or  bones  showing  fractures  demonstrate  that  he  was  used 
to  battle  with  fierce  beasts  and  fiercer  men.  Fires  were 
used  for  warmth  and  cooking  purposes,  and  in  cave  or 
grave  have  been  found  drawings  and  ornamentation  show- 
ing an  appreciation  of  the  aesthetic.  The  group  held  to- 
gether as  a  hunting  band,  a  war  band,  and  as  a  body  of 
loosely  related  families.  Their  ties  were  the  felt  needs 
for  food  and  mates  and  for  joint  action,  so  as  to  secure 
their  safety  against  enemies.  Unitedly  they  may  be 
considered  as  a  group  interested  in  self-preservation,  in 
organizing,  as  Aristotle  worded  it,  for  the  sake  of  life. 
Animals  also,  it  may  be  objected,  form  groups  for  simi- 
lar purposes,  and  that  is  true.  The  distinction  that  must 
be  emphasized  is  that  the  group,  however  dimly,  per- 
ceived from  past  experience,  the  necessity  of  group  life 
and  made  thoughtful  provision  for  its  preservation.  Un- 
til there  was  a  mental  recognition  of  this  unity,  the  hordes 


104  SOCIOLOGY 

of  the  primitive  period  might  better  be  considered  as  ag- 
gregations of  animals  herded  together  through  instincts. 
The  very  essence  of  the  distinction  between  man  and 
animal  lies  in  psychic  development,  and  until  ancestral 
man,  by  means  of  memory  associations  built  up  through 
experience,  became  able  to  see  and  in  consequence  to  fore- 
see {voir  pour  prevoir),  it  is  useless  to  ascribe  to  him  a 
social  life.  In  other  words,  the  word  "social,"  properly 
used,  should  imply  always  psychic  relationship,  not  merely 
the  contiguity  of  body  and  the  "feel"  of  the  herd.  It  is, 
of  course,  not  necessary  to  assume  a  capacity  for  philo- 
sophic reasoning  on  the  part  of  the  early  groups.  They 
were  mentally  capable,  to  be  sure,  as  is  indicated  by  the 
size  of  their  fossil  skulls,  but  their  mental  inferiority 
was  due  to  their  lack  of  a  social  heritage;  for  the  strength 
and  power  of  modern  social  life  depends  on  the  inheritance 
of  the  tradition,  achievement,  and  wisdom  of  many  thou- 
sands of  years,  and  lacking  this  any  modern  nation  would 
probably  be  as  crude  and  as  savage  as  any  known  primi- 
tive group  existing  to-day.  Social  life  is  psychic  through 
and  through  and  no  bond  in  group  life  has  any  real 
social  meaning  unless  its  utility  is  perceived  and  appre- 
ciated by  some,  at  least. 

Perception  of  Social  Utility. — Now  this  perception 
of  utility  is  an  essential  point  in  sociological  teaching  re- 
specting social  forces.  In  passing,  it  may  be  said  that 
there  are  no  inherent  social  forces  driving  groups  onward 
irresistibly  towards  progress,  but  when  groups  perceive 
the  permanent  desires  common  to  men  and  grasp  the  idea 
that  men  unitedly  are  in  need  of  social  recognition,  regu- 
lation, and  expression,  then  the  conventional  term  "social 
force"  may  properly  be  used.  An  individual  may  see  the 
utility  of  securing  for  himself  the  prime  necessities  of 


SOCIAL  BEHAVIORISM  105 

life  but  that  does  not  make  his  activities  social.  There 
may  be  and  are  many  indirect  benefits  to  society  at  large 
through  such  purposive  acts  of  individuals,  but  after  all, 
as  Lester  F,  Ward  has  so  fully  shown,  so  far  as  society  is 
concerned,  such  growth  is  unconscious  in  kind.  It  is  in- 
dividual not  social  telesis,  and  should  be  sharply  dis- 
tinguished in  thought,  at  least,  from  the  conscious,  pur- 
posive telic  action  of  social  groups.  A  group  as  a  group 
should  see  the  utility  of  its  action;  it  is  not  necessary  that 
all  the  members  of  the  group  see  this,  or  all  as  clearly  as 
some,  but  the  "mind"  of  the  group,  the  agreement  of 
the  group,  should  be  present,  however  far  apart  the  in- 
dividuals of  the  group  may  be  in  the  clearness  of  their 
insight.  This  emphasis  is  possible  only  when  the  smaller 
group,  not  society,  is  emphasized.  Society  in  the  sense 
of  all  mankind,  and  to  some  extent  this  is  true  even  of 
nations,  is  a  very  loose  unity,  largely  a  mere  name,  and 
the  loose  bonds  that  hold  together  great  combinations  of 
human  beings  are  seldom  vigorous.  Conventionally  we 
can  speak  of  the  social  forces  existent  in  Africa  or  China 
or  Latin  America,  but  the  really  important  social  forces 
in  these  geographic  areas  are  to  be  sought  for  in  the  many 
varieties  ot  racial,  economic,  religious  and  other  group- 
ings, rather  than  in  the  unity  itself.  Society  is  really  a 
sort  of  loose  confederation,  a  social  league;  each  member 
of  the  confederation  may  comprehend  fairly  well  the  sig- 
nificance of  his  own  unified  life,  but  there  is  only  a  vague 
comprehension  of  the  larger  ties  that  hold  all  unitedly,  so 
that  such  unities  readily  fly  apart,  whenever  the  real 
interests  of  individual  members  seem  to  be  threatened  by 
the  supposed  interests  of  the  whole. 

If  now  we  turn  once  more  to  the  primitive  horde,  it 
becomes  obvious  that  that  group  which  perceives  most 


io6  SOCIOLOGY 

clearly  the  necessity  of  preserving  group  life  is  most 
likely  to  survive  in  competition  with  other  groups  less 
social.  In  other  words,  in  the  struggle  for  group  sur- 
vival a  premium  is  put  on  a  capacity  to  perceive  social 
advantage  by  forming  combinations  for  the  necessities  of 
group  existence,  so  that  those  that  could  organize  effi- 
ciently for  common  purposes  and  maintain  a  somewhat 
permanent  cohesion  had  a  distinct  advantage  over  groups 
that  easily  disintegrated.  From  this  standpoint,  there- 
fore, the  student  desirous  of  tracing  the  development  of 
social  behavior  should  study  the  primitive  group  with 
its  desire  for  group  safety,  and  note  how  its  leaders  util- 
ized this  desire  by  regulating  the  activities  of  its  members, 
so  as  to  adapt  its  institutions  to  the  influences  arising 
from  a  changing  set  of  conditions  in  the  environment, 
physical,  psychical,  and  social. 

Social  Unity. — We  may  feel  quite  sure  that  even  in 
the  earliest  groups  the  members  had  become  vaguely 
conscious  of  the  necessity  of  working  together  for  the 
securing  of  food  supplies.  This  would  necessitate  the 
banding  together  under  leadership  in  the  search  for  food, 
and  the  slow  differentiation  of  vocation,  such  as  the  duties 
assigned  to  the  members  of  the  group  according  to  their 
respective  capacities.  Thus,  there  came  quite  early  a 
sort  of  specialization  by  sexes,  in  that  the  males  hunted 
game,  and  women  sought  for  vegetable  foods,  thereby 
developing  incidental  knowledge  of  the  properties  of 
herbs,  edible  and  medicinal,  and  preparing  the  way  for 
future  attempts  in  the  cultivation  of  the  soil.  If  canni- 
balism prevailed,  the  hunting  of  other  savages  as  game, 
or  with  the  conscious  purpose  of  exterminating  dangerous 
neighbors,  would  result  in  the  further  specialization  of 
a  war  band,  a  more  highly  organized  hunting  band,  since 


SOCIAL  BEHAVIORISM  107 

the  "game"  sought  after  was  both  cunning  and  dangerous. 
In  the  hunting  band  and  in  the  war  band  we  have  the 
beginnings  of  government,  so  undifferentiated  in  those 
early  times,  that  the  term  "social  control"  might  better 
be  applied  to  it.  Such  social  control  would  involve  a  con- 
centration of  authority  into  the  hands  of  the  more  capable 
members  of  the  group,  whether  more  capable  through  the 
experience  of  age,  or  through  larger  insight  and  a  stronger 
personality,  or  because  of  skill  in  the  vocations  of  hunt- 
ing and  warring.  Social  control  also  implies  the  growth 
of  custom  and  tradition,  slowly  supplanting  the  arbi- 
trary decisions  of  personal  authority,  whenever  group 
experience  reached  definite  conclusions  as  to  what  was 
safe  for  the  group  as  a  whole.  Social  control  also  would 
imply,  on  the  part  of  the  group,  a  general  attitude  of 
mind  that  might  be  called  receptive  or  suggestible.  In 
other  words,  the  individuals  of  the  group,  becoming  con- 
scious of  their  identity  of  interests,  became  sympathetic 
one  with  the  other  and  appreciative  of  the  benefits  of 
leadership,  and  hence  were  willing  to  follow  custom  or 
to  obey  orders  or  to  imitate  the  actions  of  their  leaders. 
At  the  same  time  through  group  experience  they  distin- 
guished between  the  useful  and  the  harmful  in  social  prac- 
tice, i.e.,  the  good  from  the  bad,  and  incidentally  learned 
their  customary  rights  and  obligations  as  members  of 
the  group,  as  well  as  the  tabus  and  prohibitions  placed  on 
them  by  their  leaders.  In  all  this  may  be  noted  the  joint 
development  of  function  and  action  since  there  was  an 
emphasis  on  toil  for  daily  food,  obedience  to  authority, 
a  respect  for  rights  and  obligations,  and  a  recognition 
of  the  necessity  of  customary  law,  all  combined  into  a 
rude  sort  of  social  control  or  government,  so  as  to  ensure 


io8  SOCIOLOGY 

safety  and  a  better  existence  by  joint  activity  for  the 
general  welfare  in  respect  to  foods  and  protection. 

Social  Control  Over  the  Se.v  Instinct. — A  similar  de- 
velopment doubtless  took  place  in  respect  to  the  sex  in- 
stinct. Presumably  at  first  this  instinct  was  subject 
merely  to  the  principles  of  sexual  selection  among  ani- 
mals. When  foods  became  abundant  with  the  return  of 
spring  the  exuberance  of  physical  life  manifested  itself  in 
sex  passion  and  mating  in  animal  fashion,  since  the  con- 
ventions of  modern  courtship  and  marriage  were  un- 
known. But  little  by  little  dim  notions  of  the  danger  to 
group  tranquillity  of  incest,  and  vague  notions  of  owner- 
ship by  usus  or  possession  arose  in  the  group  conscious- 
ness, so  that  by  slow  degrees,  requiring  probably  thou- 
sands of  years,  there  grew  up  systems  of  exogamy  and 
systems  of  kinship,  prohibiting  marriage  between  those 
near  of  kin.  Custom  also  settled  on  sanctioned  methods 
of  courtship,  marriage  relations,  and  the  respective  place 
in  the  home  of  male,  female,  and  child.  Such  systems 
also  are  forms  of  social  control  representing  purposive 
social  attempts  to  add  to  the  internal  safety  of  the  group 
by  enforcing,  through  social  opinion,  customs  that  ex- 
perience had  taught  to  be  worth  while  in  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  group  from  internal  strife. 

Superttatural  Fear. — In  the  same  manner  the  instinc- 
tive fear  of  the  unusual,  common  to  all  animals,  had 
become  broadened  in  sphere  by  crude  attempts  on  the 
part  of  the  wiser  members  of  the  group  to  explain  unusual 
phenomena.  All  animals  dread  the  crash  of  thunder,  the 
flash  of  lightning,  and  the  roar  of  the  tempest,  but  primi- 
tive man  went  farther  than  this  by  reflecting  on  his 
fears  and  trying  to  answer  the  question  why  he  was 
afraid.     Imagination  and  erroneous   reasoning,   handed 


SOCIAL  BEHAVIORISM  109 

on  by  tradition  and  enlarged  by  later  generations,  in 
time  peopled  the  entire  environment  of  man  with  sup- 
posed supernatural  agencies,  for  the  most  part  supposedly 
hostile  to  him.  Hence  a  new  form  of  control  had  to  be 
developed,  for  there  were  needed  methods  of  controlling 
not  human  but  supernatural  beings,  so  that  with  the  pass- 
ing of  years  came  systems  of  propitiation,  prayer,  and 
sacrifice,  in  charge  of  a  specialized  vocational  class,  the 
primitive  priests,  who  from  training  and  insight  knew 
how  to  ward  off  supernatural  dangers  from  the  group, 
because  of  the  knowledge  that  they  had  acquired  respect- 
ing these  mysterious  agencies. 

Social  Beliefs. — In  this  simple  explanation  of  the  be- 
ginnings of  these  four  fundamental  fields  of  social  func- 
tioning— the  economic,  the  political,  the  familial,  and  the 
religious — the  essential  aspects  of  social  behaviorism  may 
be  noted.  The  instinctive  feelings  of  hunger,  sex,  pug- 
nacity, and  fear  are  common  to  all  animals;  but  in  the 
human  group,  by  reflection  on  the  part  of  the  wiser  mem- 
bers, by  group  memory  or  social  traditions,  they  became 
recognized  as  group  feelings  in  need  of  regulation  and 
guidance,  through  the  inculcation  of  social  beliefs  and 
customs.  Also  may  be  noted  the  rise  of  a  common  sym- 
pathy or  "consciousness  of  kind,"  a  common  kinship,  and 
common  opinions  voicing  themselves  in  the  sanctions  of 
group  opinion,  giving  approval  to  what  seemed  safe,  use- 
ful, and,  therefore,  good,  and  sternly  condemning  as  tabu 
or  forbidden  what  from  experience  had  proved  to  be 
unsafe,  harmful,  and,  therefore,  bad.  Primitive  groups, 
cut  off  from  other  human  beings,  as  were  the  Australian 
blacks  by  geologic  land  subsidal,  might  slowly  build  up 
systems  of  social  control  and  activities,  under  conditions 
somewhat  uniform,  and  thus  settle  down  into  a  sort  of 


no  SOCIOLOGY 

static  paradise,  in  which  practically  every  experience  has 
been  tabulated,  catalogued,  assigned  its  place  in  the 
scheme  of  things,  and  settled  for  all  eternity,  according 
to  set  customs  derived  from  their  ancestors  and  handed 
on  from  generation  to  generation  by  social  tradition. 
Such  static  elysiums  have  in  fact  never  really  existed  ex- 
cept in  Utopia,  for  even  among  the  Australian  blacks  there 
wtTQ  differences  due  to  geographic  variation  with  con- 
sequent differences  in  experiences  and  customs,  but  in 
civilization  there  have  been  many  approximations  to 
static  social  conditions,  and  wherever  these  exist  there 
may  be  studied  the  determining  influences  of  social  sym- 
pathy and  a  recognition  of  group  unity,  along  with  imita- 
tion, custom,  and  belief;  and  a  control,  emphasizing  the 
authority  of  social  hereditary  tradition,  and  a  recognition 
of  social  standards  of  morals,  rights,  and  obligations. 

Now  there  is  obviously  a  sort  of  danger  when  groups 
become  approximately  static.  Customs  and  beliefs  may 
become  so  set,  that  variations  in  the  form  of  innovations 
or  heresies  would  be  frowned  on  and  suppressed,  since 
whatever  is  new  seems  evil.  Yet  social  suppression  of 
variations  means  stagnation,  social  inertia,  misoneism, 
and  ultimately  extermination,  for  in  the  long  run  social 
inbreeding  brings  degeneration  and  death.  Excess, 
whether  of  conservatism  or  radicalism,  is  always  danger- 
ous, but  the  ignoble  many  prefer  by  nature  to  die  of 
dry  rot  rather  than  be  blown  heavenwards  by  experi- 
mentation with  explosives.  As  always,  the  golden  mean 
of  social  progress  can  be  attained  only  by  forethought  and 
intelligence,  accompanied  by  freedom  of  discussion;  but 
these  are  rarely  continuous  in  civilization,  so  that  there 
is  a  natural  ebb  and  flow  in  social  progress,  although  in 


SOCIAL  BEHAVIORISM  in 

the  case  of  static  groups  relative  retrogression  and  de- 
generation are  more  possible  than  progress. 

Group  Antagonism. — There  is  another  aspect  of  so- 
cial behavior  worthy  of  special  attention.  The  members 
of  a  primitive  group,  as  already  explained,  by  contiguity 
and  custom  become  used  one  to  the  other  and  conse- 
quently develop  a  unity  of  feeling  or  social  sympathy. 
But  outsiders,  strangers  to  the  group,  are  different.  It 
v^^ould  be  preposterous  to  assume  that  in  primitive  civiliza- 
tion all  human  beings  were  kindly  and  sympathetic  one 
to  the  other.  If  there  ever  was  a  time  Uke  the  classical 
"golden  age"  when  nature  spontaneously  and  bounteously 
supplied  foods  to  human  beings,  without  special  exertion 
on  their  part,  possibly  at  that  time  there  was  natural 
sympathy  among  men.  But  idyllic  peace  did  not  prevail 
in  primitive  civilization  as  we  know  it  from  anthropolog- 
ical studies.  Strangers  were  presumably  suspicious  per- 
sons, hostile  in  intention,  and  safer  dead  than  living. 
Fear  and  pugnacity  combined  developed  an  attitude  of 
opposition  to  the  stranger,  so  that  there  was  a  tendency 
to  social  seclusion  and  a  strong  desire  to  keep  external 
influences  at  a  distance.  Group  antagonism,  on  the  other 
hand,  was  accentuated,  because  of  the  rise  of  property 
in  things  other  than  weapons  and  ornamentation.  The 
intellect,  for  example,  perceived  in  time  the  social  advan- 
tage of  stability  in  respect  to  food  supplies  through  the 
possession  of  domesticated  flocks  and  herds  as  property. 
An  increase  in  the  amount  of  such  property  seemed  a 
guaranty  against  the  danger  of  famine,  so  that  the  group 
became  eager  to  acquire  by  natural  increase  and  by  plun- 
der still  larger  supplies  of  "food  on  the  hoof."  But  these 
supplies  attracted  the  attention  of  lean  and  hungry  neigh- 
bors, who  were  willing  to  take  their  chances  in  a  fight 


112  SOCIOLOGY 

rather  than  starve.  From  this  time  forth  the  encounters 
of  groups  were  no  longer  sporadic  and  haphazard,  but 
became  systematic  and  continuous.  War  became  promi- 
nent with  the  rise  of  property,  "the  age  of  iron"  of  the 
ancients,  and  the  struggle  of  competing  groups  for  exist- 
ence played  a  leading  part  thenceforth  in  the  drama  of 
social  conflict. 

Social  Action. — In  a  close  study  of  social  behavior, 
from  the  standpoint  of  stimuli,  in  an  objective  environ- 
ment, there  are  certain  kinds  of  stimuli  that  involve  ac- 
tivities corresponding  to  the  actions  or  movements  aris- 
ing from  tropism,  reflexes,  and  the  instincts  in  organisms. 
These  are  such  external  stimuli  as  light,  heat,  moisture, 
electricity,  gravitation,  as  well  as  the  kind  and  relative 
amount  of  food  supplies.  In  other  words,  one  may  study 
the  effects  of  climate  and  geographic  environment  on 
racial  and  social  groups,  and  also  the  flora  and  fauna  of 
the  habitat  as  determining  the  food  supplies  of  the  group. 
Much  study  of  this  sort  has  been  made  and  properly  so, 
for  if  social  activity  is  largely  determined  by  climatic 
and  food  conditions,  such  knowledge  would  afford  a 
definite  basis  for  any  theory  that  involves  a  materialistic 
or  an  economic  interpretation  of  social  development.  If 
such  conditions  really  determine  social  development,  then 
wide  differences  in  these  conditions  would  imply  corre- 
sponding physical  and  perhaps  mental  racial  differences, 
so  that  there  would  be  a  psychology  of  particular  races, 
as  well  as  a  psychology  of  the  human  race. 

Infliience  of  Physical  Environment. — Thus,  if  it  be 
assumed  that  society  or  a  social  group  is  definitely  an 
organism,  like  a  biological  organism,  and  subject  to  the 
same  laws,  we  should  in  that  case  think  of  social  tropisms, 
reflexes,  and  instincts,  and  should  assume  that  the  social 


SOCIAL  BEHAVIORISM  113 

body  responds  automatically,  mechanically,  and  without 
manifest  purpose  or  intelligence  to  the  stimuli  that  come 
to  it  from  its  external  environment.  This  aspect  of  so- 
cial behavior  would  be  exemplified  by  actions  determined, 
for  example,  by  climate,  whether  hot  or  cold,  moist  or 
dry;  by  altitude  above  sea-level  or  proximity  to  the  sea; 
by  the  relative  abundance  or  scarcity  of  fresh  water,  pota- 
ble or  navigable;  or  by  the  mineral  wealth  of  the  land 
or  the  nature  of  the  soil,  determining  by  its  flora  and 
fauna  the  amount  and  variety  of  food  the  land  could 
furnish.  On  the  other  hand,  just  as  the  number  and  the 
intensity  of  animal  instincts  depend  on  the  relative  de- 
velopment of  a  nervous  system,  so  on  the  structure  of 
the  social  body  would  depend  the  possibility  of  reaction 
to  external  stimuli.  If,  for  example,  the  members  of  a 
particular  group  had  by  inheritance  an  inferior  yet  static 
social  order  and  a  weak  system  of  control,  would  not 
such  social  structure  clearly  condition  the  kind  of  reac- 
tion such  social  bodies  would  give  to  external  stimuli? 

It  seems  rather  obvious  that,  in  theory  at  least,  studies 
of  social  behavior  as  influenced  by  climatic  conditions  are 
possible,  and  that,  so  far  as  they  could  be  made,  such 
studies  would  find  their  best  illustrations  in  non-migra- 
tory primitive  races  adapted  by  selective  processes  to  their 
physical  environment,  or  in  higher  races  transplanted 
through  migration  to  a  widely  different  natural  environ- 
ment, before  the  proper  adjustments  to  the  new  environ- 
ment had  been  learned. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  human  instincts  even  in  the  lowest 
existing  civilization  are  so  dominated  by  social  beliefs, 
traditions,  and  customs,  and  are  under  so  great  a  con- 
trol through  the  inhibitions  and  modifications  developed 
through  experience,  that  the  study  of  social  behavior  of 


114  SOCIOLOGY 

this  lowest  sort  is  hardly  possible,  though  some  approxi- 
mations to  it  have  been  attempted.  In  illustration  of 
such  studies  may  be  cited  the  long  line  of  writers  from 
Aristotle  to  Buckle  and  Ratzel,  through  Bodin  and 
Montesquieu,  who  have  emphasized  the  determining  in- 
fluence of  geographic  and  climatic  conditions  on  human 
association  and  civilization.  A  late  stimulating  book  of 
this  sort  (191 5)  is  Ellsworth  Huntington's  Ciznlisation 
and  Climate,  which  argues  the  thesis  that  high  civiliza- 
tion naturally  develops  wherever  a  certain  special  type  of 
temperature  and  humidity  prevails.^  A  similar  type  of 
argument  is  that  which  would  divide  man  into  those  with 
brachycephalic  or  dolichocephalic  skulls  (broad  or  nar- 
row), with  the  implication  that  each  type  of  skull  deter- 
mines to  some  extent  the  kind  of  mentality,  and,  there- 
fore, the  kind  of  civilization  possible  to  those  having  that 
particular  form  of  skull. ^  Obviously  such  studies  as 
these,  confined  as  they  must  be  to  the  study  of  lower 
races  for  the  most  part,  belong  especially  to  the  anthro- 
pological group  of  studies,  rather  than  to  sociology  proper. 
Food  as  a  Social  Factor. — There  is  another  sort  of 
social  activity,  kindred  to  the  foregoing  but  higher  in 
degree,  namely,  that  based  on  the  necessity  for  foods. 
In  the  long  run  the  hunger  instinct  is  the  most  funda- 
mental, determining  other  forms  of  activity.  May  there 
not,  therefore,  be  a  study  of  social  behavior  approached 
from  the  standpoint  of  food,  showing  how  social  activity 
is  determined  by  the  kind  of  food,  whether  animal  or 
vegetable,  or  again  by  the  scarcity  or  abundance  of  foods? 

*  Like  that,  for  instance,  of  most  of  western  Europe  and  the 
northern  United  States. 

^  For  statement  and  discussion  of  this  theory  with  negative  con- 
clusion see  Ripley's  Races  of  Europe,  and  the  argument  of  Pro- 
fessor Boas  to  the  effect  that  skull  shapes  are  modified  by  migration. 


SOCIAL  BEHAVIORISM  115 

There  are  already  studies  showing  the  physiological  or 
psychological  effects,  respectively,  of  a  flesh  or  of  a  vege- 
tarian diet,  or  of  wheat  as  against  rice,  for  example, 
with  the  implication  that  there  are  social  consequences, 
according  as  national  diet  is  chiefly  the  one  or  the  other. 
Then,  too,  Malthusianism  is  an  excellent  illustration  of 
what  important  social  consequences  are  involved  in  the 
question  as  to  the  relative  scarcity  of  foods  in  propor- 
tion to  the  number  of  stomachs  needing  to  be  filled.  The 
Marxian  materialistic  interpretation  of  history  is  a  study 
of  the  same  sort,  for  if  the  average  man  of  civilization, 
as  things  are,  must  labor  unremittingly  for  a  wage  barely 
sufficient  for  the  plainest  necessities  of  life,  obviously 
social  behavior  is  determined  by  a  world  economic  system 
which  gives  to  the  average  man  mere  food  and  shelter  in 
return  for  daily  toil. 

It  seems  plain  that  important  studies  are  possible  show- 
ing how  social  behavior  may  be  influenced  by  the  struggle 
for  food  or  wage,  or  by  the  kinds  and  amount  of  food 
consumed,  and  yet  again  sociology  would  not  claim  this 
field  as  peculiarly  its  province,  even  though  information 
and  theories  of  this  sort — ^food  supplies,  Malthusianism, 
economic  determinism — are  so  necessary  for  social  theor- 
izing. These  studies  properly  are  biologic  and  economic, 
and  belong  to  these  sciences.  Sociology  needs  the  con- 
clusions formulated  by  economists  respecting  such  mat- 
ters, but  should  not  make  it  its  task  to  pursue  the  studies 
themselves. 

Contact  of  Mind  with  Mind. — Again,  though  as  pre- 
viously stated,  man,  with  his  highly  complex  nervous 
system,  doubtless  has  a  strongly  instinctive  nature,  his 
instincts  are  usually  held  in  check  or  inhibited  through 
social  control  and  through  reasoning  from  experiences,  or, 


ii6  SOCIOLOGY 

on  the  other  hand,  are  strengthened  by  the  concurrent 
rise  of  emotions  that  tend  to  intensify  and  give  persistence 
to  actions  instinctive  in  basis.  For  this  reason  social 
behaviorism  must  not  be  studied  merely  from  a  physical 
and  physiological  standpoint,  since  this  is  not  sufficient 
of  itself  to  give  a  complete  interpretation  of  social  be- 
havior or  activity.  Human  beings  live  in  social  groups, 
so  that  the  mind  of  each  person  in  the  group  is  a  stimulus 
to,  and  is  stimulated  by,  other  minds  in  the  group.  Con- 
sequently, the  individual  mind  may,  first,  be  considered 
as  made  up  of  varying  inherited  mental  potentialities, 
many  of  w^hich  are  latent  and  will  remain  so  through  lack 
of  appropriate  stimuli,  but  others  of  which  are  stimulated 
and  developed  through  varying  contacts  with  other  minds. 

In  the  second  place,  the  individual  mind  of  high  po- 
tential may  be  considered  as  modifying  other  minds 
through  the  energizing  of  his  potential  capacities  by  con- 
tact with  a  highly  stimulating  mental  environment.  Such 
individuals  are  the  men  of  forceful  personality,  the  men 
of  talent  and  genius  who  lead  in  human  achievement.  In 
the  same  manner  the  social  mind  of  the  group  as  a  whole, 
when  brought  into  contact  with  other  group  minds,  may 
be  studied  in  its  behavior  from  either  standpoint,  namely, 
its  inherent  potentialities  and  reactions  to  stimuli  or 
the  suppression  of  these  through  the  absence  of  the  ap- 
propriate stimuli. 

The  achievements  of  talented  men  or  of  talented  groups 
are,  after  all,  the  most  important  class  of  actions  possible 
for  group  safety  or  progress.  It  is  the  innovation,  the 
invention,  the  scientific  discovery,  the  new  achievement 
in  art,  morals,  or  philosophizing  that  in  the  long  run 
builds  up  civilization  and  gives  to  men  the  possibility  of 
a  life  larger  than  mere  existence.     The  study  of  the 


SOCIAL  BEHAVIORISM  117 

processes  that  may  lead  to  the  development  of  talent  and 
genius,  the  rise  of  a  leisure  class  and  of  an  elite,  their 
actions  called  out  through  the  stimulation  of  a  favoring 
environment — all  these  are  essential  to  national  survival 
in  times  of  race  struggle,  whether  peaceful  or  warlike, 
and  are  fundamental  to  social  progress.  This  contact  of 
mind  with  mind,  in  its  several  aspects,  is  the  subject 
matter  of  what  is  called  "social  psychology." 


CHAPTER  IX 


SOCIAL    PSYCHOLOGY 


In  a  study  of  social  behavior  one  should  seek  to  com- 
prehend the  various  aspects  of  the  environment,  from 
which  come  the  many  stimuli  that  impress  themselves  on 
the  social  mind,  thus  arousing  social  action.  It  is  plain 
that  to  the  group  the  really  important  aspect  of  environ- 
ment is  the  social,  involving  the  contact  of  mind  and 
mind.  This  includes  the  reciprocal  influence* of  the  group 
on  the  individual  and  the  individual  on  the  group,  or 
again  the  influence  of  one  group  of  collective  individuals 
on  other  social  groups.  The  study  of  such  mental  con- 
tacts is  what  is  usually  referred  to  as  "social  psychology." 

Social  Suggestibility  and  Suggestion. — The  start- 
ing point  for  a  study  in  social  psychology,  as  already 
explained,  lies  in  psychological  teaching  in  respect  to  in- 
herited instincts,  mental  capacities,  tendencies,  propensi- 
ties, dispositions,  or  whatever  other  term  may  be  used 
to  imply  the  psychic  inheritance  of  individuals.  These 
unitedly  furnish  the  basis  that  makes  the  individual  sug- 
gestible. Now  the  social  suggestibility  of  a  group  is 
not  the  same  as  the  sum  total  of  individual  psychic  in- 
heritances. Social  suggestibility  though  based  on  indi- 
vidual psychic  inheritance  is  built  up  through  social  ex- 
periences. Individuals,  of  course,  vary  widely  in  their 
psychic  inheritances,  so  that  even  those  who  pass  through 
approximately  the  same  social  experiences  may  differ 

Ii8 


SOCIAL  PSYCHOLOGY  119 

in  susceptibility.  On  the  other  hand,  those  with  approxi- 
mately the  same  inheritance  may  have  had  widely  dif- 
ferent experiences  and  for  that  reason  may  differ  in  their 
reactions  to  suggestions.  An  Oriental  may  be  susceptible 
to  social  contagion,  but  if,  ignorant  of  baseball,  he  by 
chance  attend  a  close  deciding  game  of  a  great  series, 
he  would  be  unable  to  respond  to  the  tense  excitement 
of  the  contest,  since  he  would  not  react  to  the  suggestions 
associated  with  the  various  plays.  In  the  same  manner  a 
person  untrained  in  classical  music  might  easily  become 
bored  at  the  performance  of  some  great  symphony,  pre- 
ferring in  his  heart  the  street  band  or  the  drum.  Like- 
wise a  nation,  whose  traditions  and  customs  are  fraternal 
and  peaceful,  cannot  readily  respond  to  the  call  of  war 
until  after  definite  and  persistent  attempts  have  been  made 
to  develop  a  public  opinion  based  on  a  vigorous  belief 
in  the  necessity  and  rightness  of  that  particular  war. 

Assuming,  therefore,  the  existence  of  a  social  group, 
there  are  two  factors  that  enter  into  its  suggestibility, 
namely,  the  common  psychic  inheritance  and  experience 
of  the  individuals  composing  the  group,  and  its  social 
environment.  If  the  heredity  of  the  group  is,  on  the 
whole,  rather  low  in  grade,  instinctive  in  type,  and  the 
social  environment  is  narrow,  being  petty  or  one-sided 
in  character,  the  balance  developed  between  these'may  be 
readily  overthrown  by  sudden  changes  in  environment, 
and  this  overturn  would  throw  the  people  back  on  their 
primitive  instincts  such  as  fear,  sex  passion,  rapacity, 
and  vindictive  pugnacity,  at  which  time  they  become 
highly  suggestible  to  suggestions  of  those  who  are  recog- 
nized as,  or  assert  themselves  as,  leaders.  Thus,  if  the 
inhabitants  of  a  village  aroused  by  a  violent  earthquake 
or  storm,  or  by  some  horrible  crime  committed  in  the 


120  SOCIOLOGY 

community,  or  an  impending  attack  by  an  invading  enemy, 
do  not  know  from  experience  what  is  the  proper  course 
of  conduct  under  the  circumstances  they  become  instinc- 
tive and  impulsive  in  action;  display  violent  emotion, 
ranging  from  extreme  fear  to  the  rashness  of  madness; 
adopt  suggestions  readily,  reject  them  as  easily;  and 
finally  become  apathetic  from  excess  of  emotion  and  from 
the  weariness  of  unusual  bodily  activity.  In  war,  also, 
homeloving,  domesticated  men,  kindly  to  children,  and  re- 
spectful to  women,  under  the  excitement  of  battle  and 
the  incitement  of  their  officers  often  become  cruel  and 
merciless  to  the  enemy,  slaughter  the  wounded,  mutilate 
or  kill  innocent  children,  rape  and  murder  women,  and 
burn  and  destroy  whatever  comes  in  their  way.  To  them 
the  situation  is  unusual,  primitive  passions  are  well  to  the 
front,  the  moral  law  of  every  day  life  is  in  abeyance;  and 
so,  when  in  this  highly  suggestible  state  in  which  rapid 
decisions  have  to  be  made,  a  slight  suggestion  of  rapine 
and  license  from  those  in  command  finds  a  ready  response 
in  an  orgy  of  lust  and  bestialty.  In  higher  civilizations, 
with  stronger  hereditary  mentality  and  with  training  un- 
der a  broad  and  intellectual  environment,  it  becomes  easier 
to  arouse  psychic  associations  that  would  perceive  th6 
claims  of  the  weak  and  helpless  to  mercy,  so  that  soldiers 
of  such  civilizations  and  endowments,  even  in  the  midst 
of  wild  excitement,  can  inhibit  the  dormant  brutality  in- 
herent in  human  nature  and  give  help  and  protection  to 
both  woman  and  child. 

Again,  ordinary  minds  yield  easily  to  a  sort  of  social 
hypnotism  and  when  they  come  in  contact  with  a  genius, 
or  vigorous  class  interests,  or  an  emotion-moved  mass  of 
individuals  their  passive  minds  become  open  to  impressive 
suggestions,  and  they  readily  adopt  the  beliefs  of  those 


SOCIAL  PSYCHOLOGY  121 

who  dominate  their  personahties.  Hence  we  may  have 
such  studies  as  the  psychology  of  the  mob,  the  crowd,  the 
religious  revival,  the  cure  of  sickness  through  relics  or 
suggestion,  the  orator's  power,  and  the  prestige  of  a 
dominant  class.  This  is  one  of  the  most  important 
branches  of  social  psychology,  for  the  average  mind  is, 
as  a  rule,  automatic  and  unreasoning  in  most  of  its  ac- 
tivities, and  hence  is  prone  to  yield  easily  to  the  domina- 
tion of  superior  minds.  It  takes  its  tone  from  the  great 
man,  the  orator,  or  the  revivalist;  it  readily  falls  a  victim 
to  the  persuasive  salesman  or  the  seductive  advertise- 
ment; it  is  easily  induced  to  laugh  with  the  humorist,  to 
weep  with  the  suffering,  to  yell  at  a  ball  game,  or  to  join 
in  a  lynching.  It  is  moral  with  the  virtuous,  low  with 
the  vicious,  acquires  bodily  illness  by  social  contagion 
in  times  of  epidemic,  and  is  hypnotically  cured  by  sug- 
gestion from  a  trusted  or  a  powerful  personality.  Every 
public  speaker,  teacher,  minister,  physician,  salesman,  or 
writer  of  advertisements  acquires  empirically  some  knowl- 
edge of  these  principles  in  social  psychology^  but  through 
a  careful  study  of  them  would  gain  more  effectiveness. 

Sometimes  lines  of  action  suited  to  times  of  special 
emergency  are  anticipated  and  special  instruction  given 
to  suit  the  new  conditions.  For  example,  the  danger  of 
the  loss  of  life  in  case  of  sudden  fire  is  very  much  les- 
sened if  a  school  has  been  well  trained  in  fire  drill,  or 
if  a  theater  audience  is  instructed  in  advance  what  to  do 
and  is  reminded  of  it  by  signs  and  by  directions  from  the 
stage.  Nor  are  persons  trained  in  the  methods  of  group 
psychology  so  liable  to  be  stampeded  by  the  hot  enthu- 
siasm of  the  revivalist  or  by  the  wild  excitement  of  a 
mob.  By  long  tradition  English  sailors  have  been  trained, 
in  case  of  shipwreck,  to  maintain  discipline  and  to  save 


122  SOCIOLOGY 

first  the  women  and  children.  Sailors  of  certain  other  na- 
tions not  trained  in  such  standards  follow  the  natural 
law  of  "sauve  qui  pent"  with  disastrous  results,  so  far 
as  women  and  children  are  concerned.  Even  in  the  exer- 
cise of  lynch  law  set  standards  often  develop,  so  that,  for 
example,  in  the  South  rape  on  a  white  woman  by  a  negro 
usually  results  in  his  being  burnt  at  the  stake,  or  in  the 
Far  West,  in  the  days  of  vigilance  committees,  a  formal 
trial  for  offenders  became  customary,  even  though  at 
times  it  followed  rather  than  preceded  the  execution. 

Social  Plasticity. — From  the  foregoing  the  impor- 
tance o^  the  study  of  suggestibility  and  suggestion  may 
be  seen.  Social  suggestibility  is  social-  plasticity  and  is 
obviously  an  essential  to  survival.  A  group  socially  sug- 
gestible is  in  the  line  of  progress,  since  it  has  a  basis  in 
inherited  capacities,  if,  at  the  same  time,  it  is  surrounded 
by  a  generous  environment  and  has  its  mentality  under 
the  control  of  its  intelligence.  A  group  lacking  sugges- 
tibility becomes  socially  rigid,  set,  ossified  and  is  in  the 
line  of  extinction.  A  low  suggestibility,  implying  as  it 
does  a  low  psychic  heredity  or  a  narrow  social  environ- 
ment, is  subject  to  attacks  of  fear  and  superstitious  dread, 
to  the  wild  emotionalism  of  riots,  lynchings,  murders,  and 
brutality,  and  to  irrational  decisions  based  on  instinctive 
promptings,  atavistic  intuitions,  and  haphazard  sugges- 
tions. A  group,  on  the  other,  hand,  having  a  high  de- 
velopment in  social  suggestibility  derives  stimuli  from  its 
environment  and  this  results  in  social  psychic  associations 
which  coordinate  its  activities,  place  reasonable  inhibitions 
on  tendencies  to  instinctive  savagery,  and  suggest  lines 
of  conduct  socially  approved  by  long  experience  and  re- 
flection, and  suited  to  almost  any  conceivable  emergency 
that  may  arise  in  social  life.     As  already  intimated,  a 


SOCIAL  PSYCHOLOGY  123 

social  group  having  slight  suggestibility  is  purblind,  see- 
ing, as  it  were,  that  only  which  is  immediately  in  evi- 
dence and  it  is  not  capable  of  receiving  suggestions  higher 
in  grade  than  those  appropriate  to  its  own  conditions,  A 
high  social  suggestibility,  on  the  other  hand,  is  capable 
of  receiving  suggestions  from  widely  differing  groups, 
since  some  association  can  readily  be  made  between  its 
own  needs  and  experiences  and  the  needs  and  experiences 
of  others.  In  this  way  a  progressive  group,  plastic,  open- 
minded,  intellectually  inquisitive  may  add  to  the  quality 
of  its  own  environment  by  absorbing  or  adapting  the  best 
suggestions  that  come  from  neighboring  civilizations. 

In  Paul's  time  it  was  said  of  the  ancient  Greeks  ,that: 
"All  the  Athenians  and  strangers  which  were  there  spent 
their  time  in  nothing  else,  but  either  to  tell,  or  to  hear 
some  new  thing"  (Acts,  XVII,  21).  Caesar  also,  though 
without  any  intention  to  praise,  said  of  the  Gauls :  "For, 
among  the  Gauls,  it  is  customary  for  villagers  to  compel 
travelers  to  stop,  even  against  their  will,  and  to  demand 
from  them  the  news  of  the  day.  Incited  by  what  they 
hear  they  frequently  start  great  undertakings,  of  which 
they  soon  repent,  since  the  travelers  often  tell  them  imag- 
inary happenings  so  as  to  pander  to  their  taste  for  excite- 
ment" {Commentaries  on  the  Gallic  War,  IV,  5).  Such 
traits  of  themselves  might  result  merely  in  unintelli- 
gent curiosity  and  the  vacuity  of  gossip,  but  the 
desire  to  find  out  and  to  comprehend,  rightly  stimulated, 
is  the  very  basis  of  all  science  and  philosophy,  without 
which  men  would  be  mere  animals,  lacking  civilization. 

Social  Pressure. — A  familiar  type  of  phenomena  in 
social  psychology  consists  in  what  may  be  called  social 
pressure.  Suppose,  for  illustration,  we  assume  the  ex- 
istence of  a  society  developed  into  a  static  civilization. 


124  SOCIOLOGY 

As  each  new  generation  is  bom  it  comes  into  contact 
with  the  mind  of  the  group.  Customs  and  behefs  are 
fixed,  standards  are  unchanging,  and  social  activities  of 
all  sorts  are  performed  according  to  an  unvarying  rou- 
tine. The  individuals  of  each  generation  have  at  birth 
their  special  variations  and  potentialities,  but  the  social 
mind,  through  its  numerous  institutions  such  as  family 
and  religion,  is  steadily  molding  into  the  social  type 
the  varying  individualities  subject  to  its  influences.  By 
the  time  maturity  is  attained,  the  generation  conforms 
to  the  standards,  variations  either  lie  dormant  or  have 
been  suppressed,  and  the  psychological  process  has  been 
completed.  This  is  a  simple  and  natural  illustration  of 
social  imitation  and  social  pressure.  In  the  course  of 
centuries  slight  modifications  in  social  standards  may 
creep  in,  a  genetic  development  thus  taking  place;  but 
these  changes  are  unintended,  accidental,  and  are  de- 
termined by  the  insensible  modifications  in  physical 
and  economic  conditions.  There  is,  therefore,  a  static, 
genetic  form  of  social  psychology,  in  which  the  em- 
phasis throughout  is  placed  on  the  silent  pressure  exerted 
by  practically  fixed  social  institutions,  and  the  cooperat- 
ing effect  of  natural  physical  and  economic  conditions. 
Preeminently  it  is  the  influence  of  the  social  mind,  as 
a  unit,  acting  on  the  individual,  and  crushing  out  his 
variable  personality  by  the  sheer  weight  of  a  dominant 
public  opinion.  It  is  the  best  illustration  of  the  familiar 
saying,  "The  voice  of  the  people  is  as  the  voice  of 
God."  When  the  voice  speaks  and  the  will  is  expressed, 
opposition  vanishes  like  a  flash,  unable  to  draw  breath 
against  omnipotence. 

Social  Imitation. — The  preceding  illustration  of  so- 
cial pressure  is  a  simple  form  of  social  imitation,  in 


SOCIAL  PSYCHOLOGY  125 

which  each  new  generation  in  a  static  civilization  auto- 
matically adopts  the  customs  and  beliefs  of  its  ancestors. 
A  less  stable  form  is  developed  when  through  suggestion 
from  recognized  leaders  or  prestige  of  a  powerful  class, 
whole  populations  or  masses  of  human  beings  tend  to 
imitate  the  fads,  fashions,  and  standards  of  the  leaders 
or  class  patterned  after.  As  these  change  periodically, 
the  imitation  is  not  unconscious  but  yet  is  based  on 
an  unreflecting  form  of  imitation.  It  is  semi-conscious 
and  is  determined  in  the  main  by  social  suggestion  and 
mass  response.  Fashions  in  dress  for  both  sexes  vary 
at  regular  intervals;  the  bicycle  fad  is  followed  by  the 
automobile,  which  in  its  turn  may  be  followed  by  aerial 
or  submarine  navigation;  reforms  appear  in  waves,  and 
new  sports  come  and  go,  lending  variety  to  the  national 
game.  The  prevalence  of  these  imitative  fads  in  the 
United  States  is  probably  due  to  the  influence  of  the 
newspaper  and  the  skill  of  advertisers;  the  newspaper 
and  advertising  are  more  fully  developed  as  social  agen- 
cies in  this  country  than  anywhere  else  on  the  face  of  the 
earth. 

Rational  Imitation. — There  is,  however,  a  higher 
type — conscious  or  rational  imitation — which  may  be 
observed  when  an  intelligent  man,  or  a  class,  or  a  so- 
ciety, studies  the  differing  systems  and  standards  round 
about  and  consciously,  after  reflection,  chooses  to  imi- 
tate something  better  than  what  he  or  it  has  already 
attained.  This  represents  the  highest  order  of  imita- 
tion and  is  found  at  its  best  in  highly  civilized  groups 
who  realize  the  importance  of  having  at  their  command 
the  newer  knowledge  of  the  times.  Illustrations  of  con- 
scious imitation  are  becoming  increasingly  familiar  first, 
through  the  custom  of  employing  commissions,   local, 


126  SOCIOLOGY 

national,  or  international,  to  study  out  by  comparison 
and  reflection  the  most  suitable  policy  for  a  proposed 
activity;  secondly,  in  the  rapid  adoption  of  material  and 
cultural  achievements  made  by  nations  other  than  the 
imitator;  and  thirdly,  through  the  growing  use  of  great 
national  conventions  convened  for  the  purpose  of  ex- 
changing ideas  and  agreeing  on  a  proper  policy  in  re- 
spect to  the  subject  under  discussion.  Such  policies 
when  formulated  receive  the  support  and  assent  of 
many  thoughtful  persons,  who  accept  the  decision  made 
by  the  whole  body  even  though  it  may  differ  in  detail 
from  their  own  conclusions. 

In  the  preceding  illustrations  though  conditions  were 
dynamic,  development  was  still  genetic,  not  telic.  For 
the  mental  changes  effected  were  brought  about  by  per- 
sons in  the  pursuit  of  their  own  interests,  or  through 
unconscious  social  imitation,  or  through  the  suggestibil- 
ity of  the  weak  when  dominated  by  the  powerful.  There 
is  ajnother  possibility  also,  namely,  that  development 
under  dynamic  conditions  would  become  socially  telic, 
not  genetic. 

Social  Conflict. — Social  life  is  not  always  static  or 
imitative.  Conflicts  arise,  creating  social  friction  as  the 
result  of  powerful  dynamic  movements  either  through 
war,  migration,  or  fundamental  economic  changes.  From 
the  midst  of  the  turmoil  there  would  arise  out  of  here- 
tofore dormant  personalities  new  ideals  and  standards 
that  would  compete  with  the  old.  This  is  social  con- 
flict; it  is  mind  against  mind,  and  the  result  of  it  may 
be  the  suppression  of  one  or  the  other,  or  the  modifica- 
tion of  each  by  compromise  and  differentiation. 

Mental  changes  accomplished  by  genetic  growth  are 
slow  in  development  and  are  often  variable  and  weak, 


SOCIAL  PSYCHOLOGY  127 

because  ordinary  minds  respond  too  easily  to  temporary 
influences  and  blow  hot  or  cold  by  turns.  Really  perma- 
nent mental  changes  must  be  deliberately  hammered  into 
the  heads  of  mentally  capable  persons,  the  natural  lead- 
ers of  society,  whose  beliefs  and  standards  will  be  fol- 
lowed by  the  mass  in  any  case  through  suggestion  and 
imitation.  This  result  may  be  accomplished  by  either 
one  of  two  methods,  discussion  or  education.  In  static 
civilization  discussion  is  unnecessary  for  there  is  nothing 
of  moment  to  discuss.  All  are  of  the  same  opinion  in 
respect  to  important  matters,  and  discussion  can  arise 
only  about  trivialities.  These,  of  course,  may  be  debated 
eagerly  and  even  with  rancor,  but  no  important  effect 
follows  from  a  decision  either  way.  Static  religions 
furnish  historically  many  illustrations  of  the  ease  with 
which  learned  men  who  have  no  other  field  for  their 
ingenuity  may  write  ponderous  volumes  on  the  distinc- 
tion between  tweedle-dum  and  tweedle-dee.  But  sup- 
pose that  there  arises  a  dominating  personality,  who  has 
thought  out  new  and  truer  intellectual  standards  and 
with  the  eye  of  genius  sees  the  trend  of  the  times.  By 
his  psychic  energy  he  may  easily  rally  to  his  support  many 
of  the  thoughtless,  as  already  explained,  but  for  perma- 
nent success  he  realizes  that  he  must  convince  the  in- 
telligent. 

"Age  of  Discussion." — Then  arises  the  "age  of  dis- 
cussion." He  advances  his  views  and  seeks  to  propa- 
gate them  throughout  the  community.  A  chorus  of  dis- 
sent follows;  he  reiterates  with  increasing  emphasis; 
his  opponents  grow  excited  in  their  replies,  but  a  few 
begin  to  hesitate;  discussion  rages  in  all  directions  and 
spreads  by  social  contagion  to  the  masses,  who  in  sage 
debate  at  street  corners  or  other  social  centers  solemnly 


128  SOCIOLOGY 

reach  the  same  conclusions  attained  by  their  leaders. 
When  the  ardor  of  discussion  has  passed,  the  new  leader 
has  an  intellectual  following,  who  with  the  zeal  of  con- 
verts propagate  his  views  as  translated  by  their  own 
mentalities.  Slowly  the  leaven  leavens  the  whole  lump, 
the  opposition  yields  point  after  point,  or  is  silenced, 
and  finally  the  newer  view  has  become  the  accepted 
standard.  Often  this  process  is  hastened  by  a  sudden 
discovery  that  the  new  was  really  old,  having  been  taught 
centuries  ago  by  great  teachers  or  implied  in  their  doc- 
trines. This  soothes  the  sting  of  defeat;  the  new  is 
really  old,  there  is  "no  new  thing  under  the  sun,"  all 
repeat,  and  are  happy. 

Or  again,  in  place  of  open  warfare  by  discussion, 
which  is  often  dangerous  and  leads  to  martyrdom,  a 
would-be  reformer  quietly  gathers  about  him  eager 
youth  who  show  intellectual  capacity  and  teaches  them 
his  doctrines;  these  in  their  turn  teach  others,  avoiding 
open  debate  and  perhaps  even  conforming  outwardly  to 
accepted  teachings.  More  slowly,  but  as  surely,  if  the 
newer  teaching  is  truer  and  wiser  for  the  age,  it  sinks 
into  social  consciousness,  and  in  due  process  of  time 
is  part  of  the  accepted  teaching  of  society,  having  sup- 
planted its  rival  under  the  law  of  the  survival  of  the 
fit. 

In  the  same  way  might  be  cited  many  other  Illustra- 
tions of  social  friction,  which  develops  whenever  diiifer- 
ences  In  standards  arise  in  a  community;  class  may 
be  arrayed  against  class,  factions  and  sects  in  politics 
and  religion  against  one  another,  powerful  personalities 
are  arrayed  In  opposition  through  differing  Interests,  or 
nations  in  their  careers  of  conquest  may  endeavor  to 
compel  conquered  peoples  to  conform  in  their  civlliza- 


SOCIAL  PSYCHOLOGY  129 

tion  to  the  demands  of  the  conqueror,  as  is  the  case 
to-day  in  India  and  Korea.  The  phenomena  in  such 
struggles  are  practically  uniform,  if  varying  conditions 
are  taken  into  account,  and  laws  and  principles  are 
fairly  well  understood,  so  that  it  has  now  become  pos- 
sible to  work  out  a  telic  policy  which  may  reduce  social 
friction  to  a  minimum.  The  newer  age  will  be  marked 
by  telic  applications  of  such  principles  to  the  social 
struggles  in  society,  with  the  aim  of  harmonizing  the 
conflicting  interests  and  standards  of  life. 

Social  Control. — From  such  studies  of  the  several 
classes  of  psycho-sociological  phenomena  arise  the  proc- 
esses of  socialization  and  social  control.  Dr.  Edward  A. 
Ross  in  his  excellent  work  entitled  Social  Control^  shows 
the  several  factors  and  agencies  to  be  taken  into  ac- 
count when  one  considers  the  molding  influences  of  so- 
ciety. The  sociologist  is  interested  in  seeking  to  make 
so  clear  the  principles  involved  in  social  control,  that 
society  may  definitely  and  thoughtfully  plan  to  make  its 
control  more  effective  by  eliminating,  as  far  as  possible, 
lower  and  ineflicient  social  activities,  and  lending  en- 
couragement and  aid  to  those  agencies  that  build  up 
powerful  social  forces,  and  intellects  capable  of  con- 
trolling these  for  social  purposes.  In  this  process  the 
members  of  society  become  socialised  in  that  they  become 
sympathetic  one  with  another  and  learn  the  art  of 
cooperative  activity.  This  process  of  socialization,  not 
in  the  sense  of  the  simple  imitation  of  static  civilization, 
but  through  the  agencies  of  rational  suggestion  and 
imitation,  will  be  an  end  ever  to  be  kept  in  mind  by 
the  student  of  social  psychology.  As  society,  there- 
fore, grows  more  self-conscious  and  more  rational  in 
its  methods,  the  study  of  the  interaction  of  society  and 


130  SOCIOLOGY 

its  members  will  become  increasingly  important.  For 
this  reason  it  seems  clear  that  such  studies  will  need 
to  be  specialized  into  a  separate  science  aiming  to  pro- 
mote a  constructive  policy  in  social  development. 

Social  control  is,  of  course,  exerted  chiefly  through 
the  collective  mass  of  social  institutions.  In  the  cus- 
toms, traditions,  and  law  of  these  numerous  organiza- 
tions are  conserved  the  wisdom  and  folly  of  past  gen- 
erations. The  family,  the  church,  and  the  state,  for 
instance,  determine  rules,  adjust  wrongs  and  disputes 
and  through  education  seek  to  mold  each  new  genera- 
tion into  racial  and  ancestral  types.  The  youthful  mind 
is  plastic,  and  readily  adapts  itself  to  instruction,  whether 
given  by  word  or  example.  It  is  taught  to  respect 
public  opinion,  to  obey  law,  to  accept  traditional  be- 
liefs, to  act  in  conventional  ways,  and  to  conform  to  set 
standards  of  conduct.  It  is  taught  respect  for  power 
and  knowledge,  love  for  kin  and  country,  and  the  prin- 
ciples of  egoism  and  altruism. 

Influence  of  Social  Institutions. — The  importance  of 
social  institutions,  therefore,  should  never  be  under- 
estimated. As  agencies  that  mold  the  customs  of  newer 
generations  they  ensure  social  stability  and  conserve 
racial  achievements.  Yet  in  a  dynamic  age  it  would 
be  a  great  misfortune  if  institutions  were  so  fixed  as 
to  be  changed  only  with  great  difficulty.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  would  be  equally  pernicious  if  customs  and  in- 
stitutions were  too  easily  modified,  responding  to  each 
passing  influence.  Rigidity  needs  to  be  combined  in 
social  organization  with  flexibility,  so  that  changes  may 
come,  but  gradually,  in  order  that  the  mind  may  become 
used  to  newer  conditions  as  the  older  pass  away.  Eco- 
nomic and  educational  changes  wisely  planned  with  a  telic 


SOCIAL  PSYCHOLOGY  131 

purpose  in  mind  would  allow  this.  It  takes  time  for  in- 
ventions, or  for  modifications  in  employment,  in  foods 
and  in  housing  to  become  familiar  to  the  whole  of  so- 
ciety. Scientific  ideas  and  the  ideals  of  cultural  civiliza- 
tion have  to  be  slowly  absorbed  and  assimilated  before 
results  can  follow,  and  a  generation  may  pass  before 
desired  modifications  are  evident.  Just  as  agriculture 
necessitates  more  patience  and  forethought  than  nomad- 
ism, so  society  must  plan  for  a  hundred  years  in  ad- 
vance, and  its  leaders  be  content  to  let  others  reap 
what  they  sow.  At  present  men  foolishly  demand  rapid 
results,  and  expect  by  mere  legislation  to  introduce  new 
systems.  Fundamental  changes  too  suddenly  introduced 
upset  more  than  they  upbuild,  and  human  experience 
has  wisely  decreed  that  haste  must  be  made  slowly. 

If,  however,  economic  and  educational  conditions  are 
modified  so  that  the  extremes  of  economic  wealth  tend 
to  disappear,  if  skill  supersedes  ignorance  in  trade  and 
industry,  and  scientific  and  cultural  ideas  become  familiar 
to  all,  there  will  follow  gradually  but  surely,  changes  in 
the  other  institutions  of  life,  tending  to  build  up  a 
more  vigorous  racial  physique,  and  a  greater  mental 
flexibility  for  the  assimilation  of  cultural  ideals.  The 
real  importance  oi  social  institutions  would  then  be- 
come clear.  If  based  on  scientific  principles,  stable  yet 
progressive,  they  would  develop  in  each  generation  more 
and  more  effectively  men  capable  of  rectifying  the  blun- 
ders of  former  ages,  and  of  building  up  a  civilization  that 
would  eliminate  the  weaker  elements  in  society. 

Relativity  of  Knowledge. — The  fundamental  neces- 
sity is  that  these  great  institutions  should  avoid 
a  dogmatic  attitude  of  mind.  It  does  not  much  matter 
whether  error  be  taught  along  with  the  good,  if  onlj' 


132  SOCIOLOGY 

its  teachers  will  admit  the  possibility  of  error  and  urge 
their  pupils  to  seek  out  the  truth.  It  is  characteristic 
of  static  conditions  to  assume  that  parents,  teachers,  re- 
ligious guides,  great  leaders  of  all  sorts,  the  printed  page, 
and  ancient  teachings,  are  all  perfect.  It  is  far  better, 
while  teaching  the  best  one  knows,  to  admit  fallibility, 
to  aid  in  the  search  for  larger  truth,  and  to  stimulate  the 
younger  to  join  in  the  seeking.  Our  institutions  must 
teach  what  seems  true  at  the  time,  but  with  as  little 
dogmatism  as  possible.  Along  with  instruction  in  the 
customs,  beliefs,  and  traditions  of  the  age  should  be 
taught  an  attitude  of  mind,  namely,  a  determination  while 
holding  fast  to  what  is  good,  to  reach  out  ever  in  search 
of  the  better,  guided  by  an  ideal  of  the  best. 

It  is  socially  wrong  to  teach  a  child  as  absolute  truth 
religious  or  other  doctrines  that  in  later  years  will  im- 
pede his  mental  progress  or  necessitate  a  struggle  for 
their  modification  or  rejection.  Freeing  one's  mind  from 
error  should  be  a  joy,  yet  dogmatic  teachings  make 
disillusion  painful.  Hector  voiced  the  noblest  aspira- 
tion of  humanity  in  praying  that  his  boy  might  be 
wiser  and  braver  than  he  was,  and  Elijah  once  prayed 
for  death  because  he  was  no  better  than  his  fathers. 
Each  generation  should  rejoice  in  seeing  its  successor 
eliminating  defective  teachings  and  enlarging  the  mental 
horizon.  There  is  probably  no  truth  to-day  so  absolute 
that  it  should  be  taught  without  the  implication  of 
possible  later  modifications.  When  an  attitude  of  re- 
ceptivity and  openmindedness  is  imparted  along  with 
statical  training  and  information,  human  mentality  will 
grow  more  susceptible  to  truth,  and  static  teachings  will 
imperceptibly  become  dynamic.  Civilization  traditionally 
begins  with  a  perfect  Eden  in  the  past,  but  it  works 


SOCIAL  PSYCHOLOGY  133 

towards  a  Paradise  made  up  of  men  become  divine;  it 
begins  with  a  final  good,  but  it  tends  to  reach  toward 
an  ever  enlargening  truth. 

Distinctions  in  Social  Control. — In  primitive  civili- 
zation social  control  is  the  same  for  all  persons  in  the 
community,  and  rightly  so,  for  all  are  practically  alike, 
since  they  are  under  the  same  conditions  of  life.  But 
when  social  classes  arise,  and  differences  develop  in 
respect  to  heredity,  environment,  and  education,  there 
should  be  corresponding  differences  in  the  quality  and 
quantity  of  control — classes  of  highest  cultural  attain- 
ment needing  least  and  those  who  are  lowest  in  the 
scale  of  civilization  needing  most.  This  difference  would 
not  be  so  necessary  if  the  lower  social  classes  were  ex- 
pected to  conform  only  to  standards  suited  to  their  own 
conditions  of  life,  but,  unfortunately  for  them,  they 
are,  as  a  rule,  expected  to  conform  to  standards  of  a 
higher  grade  of  civilization,  and  compliance  becomes 
well-nigh  impossible.  The  prevalence  of  so  much  vice 
and  crime  may  thus  be  partially  explained,  since  much 
that  a  high  civilization  condemns  would  meet  with  so- 
cial approbation  in  lower  civilization.  Plainly,  there- 
fore, as  society  develops  a  wiser  system  of  social  con- 
trol it  will  rely  less  and  less  on  prohibitions  and  more 
on  wise  suggestion  and  education  and  the  presentation 
of  high  ideals. 

The  Stimulus  of  Hope. — The  real  stimulus  toward 
the  attainment  of  ideals  comes  when  men  are  inspired 
with  the  hope  of  success.  If  men  can  confidently  hope 
to  attain  wealth,  social  standing,  honor,  and  reputation, 
social  activity  is  assured.  Society  will  simply  need 
to  explain  its  regulations,  so  that  each  may  play  the 
game   fairly — with  disqualifications   for   foul  play.      It 


134  SOCIOLOGY 

is  the  hopelessness  of  attaining  what  is  worth  while 
that  turns  many  aside  to  depraved  forms  of  activity, 
A  normal  person  loves  to  do  his  share  in  the  common 
life  and  to  feel  that  he  deserves  the  approbation  of  his 
fellows.  No  man  can  resist  public  opinion  definitely 
expressed.  At  the  worst,  he  will,  if  under  public  con- 
demnation, join  himself  with  similar  outcasts  and  en- 
joy their  approbation. 

If  society  is  retrograding,  it  may  be  well,  as  in  the 
East,  to  advocate  passivity,  abnegation,  and  fatalism; 
or  if  static,  to  urge  contentment  with  one's  lot;  but  in 
a  dynamic,  progressive  age,  boundless  wants  and  am- 
bitions imply  broader  achievement.  For  this  reason 
society  should  arouse  men  from  inactivity  by  stimulating 
and  multiplying  their  wants,  should  by  training  and 
regulation  guide  them  to  the  best  methods  of  attaining 
their  desires,  and  should  seek  ever  to  make  the  agencies 
for  social  control  more  effective,  having  as  an  ideal 
human  beings  so  normal  in  heredity  and  so  well  en- 
vironed and  trained,  that  their  desires  will  harmonize 
with  social  demands. 

Social  Forces. — Just  as  the  steering-gear  of  a  steamer 
is  useless  if  there  is  no  steam  to  regulate,  so  there  can  be 
no  social  control  unless  there  be  something  to  control. 
This  something  in  society  is  the  mass  of  bodily  pas- 
sions, the  desires  of  the  human  mind,  its  ambitions  and 
its  demands — the  social  forces.  In  a  weakling  in- 
dividual or  group  these  are  feeble  and  there  is  nothing 
worth  controlling.  Such  people  are  molded  by  environ- 
ment and  companionship.  As  a  basis  for  effective  social 
control,  therefore,  it  is  vastly  important  that  powerful 
desires  surge  through  the  individuals  of  society.  An 
ascetic  contempt  for  the  joys  and  ambitions  of  life  is 


SOCIAL  PSYCHOLOGY  135 

socially  suicidal.  Men  must  wish  vigorously  and  work 
mightily  to  accomplish  their  desires.  Through  society 
as  a  whole  there  should  be  a  craving  for  wealth,  for 
bodily  comfort,  for  the  satisfaction  of  conjugal  and 
parental  feelings,  for  altruistic  service,  for  a  realization 
of  ideals  of  morality  and  beauty,  and  for  a  conception 
of  the  essential  harmony  of  the  universe.  A  society 
lacking  these  is  inert,  contemptible,  and  destined  to 
extinction;  but  with  them,  though  there  is  the  possibility 
that  the  violence  of  its  ambitions  may  work  its  destruc- 
tion, it  also  may  become  an  irresistible  factor  for  prog- 
ress. 

It  is  an  important  function  of  society,  by  economic  and 
educational  regulation,  to  develop  these  social  ambitions 
to  their  utmost.  If  society  by  scientific  knowledge  and 
invention  can  banish  disease,  build  up  a  vigorous  physical 
race,  and  increase  economic  production  and  food  sup- 
plies, it  thereby  will  stimulate  the  psychical  energies  of 
men,  so  essential  as  a  basis  for  social  activity.  Then  if 
a  wiser  educational  system  would  teach  social  standards, 
the  reasons  underlying  law  and  morals,  and  ideals  of 
cultural  civilization  as  stimuli  to  ambition,  these  social 
forces  would  need  simply  wise  social  guidance  and  in- 
formation as  to  the  best  methods  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  ambitions.  Society,  therefore,  instead  of  seek- 
ing to  repress  human  desires  by  restrictive  legislation 
and  prohibitive  forms  of  morality,  should  rather  en- 
courage the  strengthening  of  these  forces,  and  should 
preferably  devote  itself  to  the  study  of  wiser  methods 
of  regulation.  Enforced  celibacy,  for  instance,  in  place 
of  being  a  saintly  virtue,  is  socially  a  sin  against  the 
race;  the  love  of  money,  instead  of  being  the  root  of  all 
evil,  is  the  basis  of  material  civilization.    Caesar,  instead 


136  SOCIOLOGY 

of  being  murdered  because  he  was  ambitious,  should 
have  been  urged  to  become  patriotically  ambitious. 
Palissy,  the  inventor,  instead  of  being  blamed  for  burn- 
ing his  furniture  to  keep  up  the  heat  under  his  pottery, 
might  have  been  forgiven  had  he  used  his  neighbor's 
woodpile  also.  There  are,  of  course,  perverted  feelings  in 
society  that  demand  rigid  training  and  even  repression 
for  the  time,  but  such  instances  should  prove  fewer 
in  number  as  society  learns  wiser  control.  A  father  no 
longer  has  the  power  of  life  and  death  over  his  wife 
and  children,  and  the  use  of  the  rod  is  passing  from 
home  and  school.  A  teacher  who  cannot  control  with- 
out the  threat  of  punishment  may  well  be  urged  to  find 
another  occupation.  Society  begins  to  realize  that  there 
are  necessarily  no  evil  passions,  if  normal  heredity  and 
environment  are  supplemented  by  wise  parental  and  so- 
cial control.  If,  however,  with  a  defective  physique  be- 
cause of  malnutrition,  and  a  warped  mentality  because  of 
improper  training,  a  person  under  the  influence  of  de- 
fective companionship  acts  perversely,  the  blame  should 
be  charged  to  the  conditions  of  life,  and  without  the 
assumption  that  normal  persons  normally  trained  need 
the  same  sort  of  repressive  control. 

Class  Control. — Still  another  aspect  of  social  psy- 
chology may  be  mentioned  in  illustration  of  its  many 
problems.  There  are,  broadly  speaking,  two  natural 
classes  in  society,  those  who  by  heredity  or  through  su- 
perior social  advantages  have  become  prominent  as  so- 
cial leaders  and  those  who  through  inferior  heredity  or 
the  lack  of  social  advantages  have  failed  to  attain  prom- 
inence and  hence  are  spoken  of  as  the  masses.  Now  a 
leading  class  historically  has  regularly  been  a  predatory 
or  an  exploiting  class.    Although  by  theory  they  are  the 


SOCIAL  PSYCHOLOGY  .  137 

leaders  among  equals,  the  servants  of  the  people,  yet  the 
fact  soon  becomes  evident  that  they  deem  themselves  lead- 
ers of  inferiors  and  natural  or  divinely  appointed  rulers 
of  the  people. 

Being  in  power  they  acquire  a  firm  grip  on  the  funda- 
mentals of  power,  namely,  wealth,  intelligence,  prestige, 
and  office,  and  so  arrange  the  social  system  that  they  may 
remain  in  power  indefinitely.  To  this  end  the  great  so- 
cial institutions  are  so  organized  that  they  support  the 
rulers  in  their  claims.  Law,  religion,  custom,  tradition, 
and  beliefs  are  so  ordered  that  they  impress  on  the  masses 
their  moral  and  religious  obligations  to  their  betters,  to 
whom,  it  is  taught,  they  owe  obedience  and  loyalty.  This 
is  class  control  or,  in  its  harsher  form,  class  domination. 
Class  control  in  its  lowest  aspects  maintains  the  power 
of  the  leaders  by  cruel  and  vindictive  measures  whenever 
necessary.  The  army,  the  courts,  and  the  police  service 
are  ever  ready  to  punish  with  the  utmost  severity  any 
mutterings  of  discontent,  and  punishment  even  may  ex- 
tend after  death,  since  religion  may  threaten  the  terrors 
of  hell  against  impious  rebels  and  traitors.  In  this  stage 
it  is  essential  that  the  masses  be  kept  in  ignorance  and 
in  abject  poverty,  so  that  no  possibility  may  exist  for  the 
rise  from  the  masses  of  rival  claimants  for  leadership. 

In  a  somewhat  higher  form  of  class  control  punishment 
is  less  emphasized  and  the  leadership  is  kept  in  power 
by  emotional  appeals  for  personal  support  based  on 
claims  of  fealty,  loyalty,  reverence,  and  devotion.  In 
this  stage,  however,  the  leaders  must  be  less  exacting  in 
their  extortions  and  exploitation  lest  the  devotion  of  sub- 
jects turn  to  hate.  Nor  is  it  necessary  that  the  people 
be  kept  ignorant  and  poverty  stricken,  provided  a  safe 
education  of  a  static  sort  only  is  allowed  and  heavy  taxa- 


138  SOCIOLOGY 

tion,  weighing  chiefly  on  the  masses,  concentrates  wealth, 
as  before,  into  the  hands  of  the  ruhng  class. 

Control  Through  the  Elite. — In  the  highest  form  of 
social  control,  when  class  interests  yield  to  social  inter- 
ests, that  democratic  type  towards  which  the  world  is 
hopefully  tending  through  the  ultimate  defeat  of  mili- 
tarism and  class  exploitation,  the  leading  class  depend  for 
their  leadership  on  the  free  choice  of  the  people,  and  the 
sources  of  power  are  democratically  controlled.  The 
notion  of  punishment  is  minimized  and  reserved  for 
atavistic  types  of  men,  emotions  are  stressed  as  aids  in 
control,  but  always  as  subsidiary  to  intelligent  apprecia- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  people  of  the  purposes  and  ideals 
inherent  in  any  proposed  policy.  Education,  therefore, 
is  no  longer  reserved  chiefly  for  the  ruling  classes,  and 
ceases  to  emphasize  a  content  that  looks  backward  to  the 
"glorious  past."  By  contrast,  it  aims  to  familiarize  the 
people,  both  old  and  young,  through  the  press  as  well  as 
through  the  school,  with  the  meaning  of  the  social  life 
environing  them  and  with  such  information  as  may 
through  opportunity  develop  the  potential  vocational  and 
cultural  capacities  of  all. 

Leadership  in  such  a  system  is  for  the  talented  and  is 
open  to  all  who  demonstrate  their  ability  to  build  up 
along  better  lines  the  social  organization  with  its  institu- 
tions and  to  expedite  social  progress  by  socially  beneficial 
achievements.  For,  in  passing  from  class  domination  to 
a  democratic  social  control,  there  must  be  modifications 
and  reorganizations  of  social  institutions,  in  order  that 
they  may  voice  the  newer  ideas  of  freedom  instead  of  the 
older  methods  of  terrorism.  Democracy,  in  other  words, 
must  dominate  the  ideals  of  economic  life,  of  politics,  re- 
ligion, education,  and  family,  so  that  in  consequence  there 


SOCIAL  PSYCHOLOGY  139 

would  follow  revisions  of  customs,  traditions,  and  beliefs 
and  a  greater  emphasis  on  the  ideals  and  standards  of 
morals,  aesthetics,  and  intellectual  life,  or  as  the  Greeks 
put  it,  the  good,  the  beautiful,  and  the  true,  all  of  which 
ultimately  may  be  considered  useful. 

As  these  became  democratic  in  type,  the  control  of  so- 
cial life  would  come  to  be  of  the  same  sort  and  would  be- 
come higher  in  degree  with  advancing  civilization.  As 
this  kind  of  control  depends  on  the  personal  intelligence 
of  each  individual,  society  would  be  composed,  not  of 
men  of  a  dull  average  type  as  under  despotisms,  but  of 
persons  of  strong,  intense  personalities  directed  through 
social  opinion  into  lines  of  action  socially  beneficial. 

These  broad  principles  underlying  the  theory  of  social 
psychology  have  far  reaching  applications.  As  at  pres- 
ent organized,  even  in  the  United  States,  society  is  made 
up  of  classes  widely  different  in  power,  wealth,  and  in- 
telligence. By  ancient  custom  the  ruling  classes  may  seek 
to  maintain  themselves  in  power  through  exploitation 
and  intimidation.  A  leader  may  be  a  capitalist  who  has 
nothing  to  arbitrate,  a  clergyman  who  plays  skillfully  on 
the  fear  of  hell,  a  teacher  or  a  father  with  rod  and  threat, 
or  a  domineering  husband  in  charge  of  the  family  purse. 
On  the  other  hand  modern  changes  strengthen  the  laborer 
through  the  ballot,  the  trade  union,  and  the  social  ap- 
proval of  the  demand  for  a  decent  standard  of  living;  the 
laity  may  prefer  teachings  of  social  fraternity  to  the  ter- 
rors of  hell  and  refuse  support  to  an  exploiting  church; 
tlie  rod  and  the  threat  yield  to  emotional  and  intellectual 
appeals;  and  the  wife  claims  to  be  equal,  if  not  superior, 
to  her  husband.  Differences  become  minimized,  agree- 
ments are  emphasized,  and  the  struggle  of  classes  slowly 
yields  to  the  cooperative  unity  of  leaders  and  led. 


PART  II 
SOCIETY  AND  ITS  INSTITUTIONS 


CHAPTER  X 

EARLY   SOCIAL  DEVELOPMENT 

Social  Origins. — As  "society"  is  the  center  of  sociolog- 
ical discussion  it  is  important  at  the  start  to  form  a  clear 
idea  of  its  historical  development,  noting  its  gradual 
change  from  a  simple  band  of  savages  to  the  highly  com- 
plex society  of  closely  related  institutions  so  common 
to  our  thought  in  these  days.  The  term  "society,"  it  will 
be  remembered,  is  regularly  used  in  sociology  to  denote 
a  human  community  held  together  by  common  elements 
and  interests.  The  term  "social  group"  has  a  somewhat 
narrower  meaning,  not  emphasizing  an  integration  of  so- 
cial institutions,  but  rather  a  unity  of  specialized  interests. 

While  many  of  the  conclusions  of  the  anthropological 
sciences  are  merely  hypotheses  (because  knowledge  based 
chiefly  on  remnants  and  survivals  of  earliest  human  civi- 
lization is  meager  and  is  likely  to  remain  so),  it  is,  never- 
theless, to  these  sciences  that  we  must  turn  for  informa- 
tion in  respect  to  the  origin  of  man  and  the  conditions  of 
his  primitive  life.  From  these  conclusions  it  is,  however, 
fairly  reasonable  to  hold  ^  that  man  evolved  from  animal 
forms  and  for  many  ages  remained,  to  all  intents  and  pur- 
poses, an  animal.  In  this  part  of  his  history  he  made  no 
tools  nor  implements  of  any  sort,  nor  had  he  mastered  the 
art  of  fire-building.    Like  an  animal  he  left  at  death  noth- 

*  For  short  studies  of  this  sort,  see  in  Temple  Primer  Series, 
Primitive  Man,  by  Moriz  Hoernes,  and  Ethnology,  by  Michael 
Haberlandt.     In  each  of  these  may  be  found  a  brief  bibliography. 

143 


144  SOCIOLOGY 

ing  behind  him  but  his  bones,  and,  except  by  some  rare 
chance,  even  these  in  process  of  time  crumbled  into  dust. 
Consequently  we  begin  to  know  man  with  some  exactness 
only  when  he  had  begun  to  make  tools  and  weapons,  to 
use  fire,  and  to  dwell  in  settled  habitations  such  as  the 
caves  of  western  Europe  or  the  lake  dwellings  of  Swit- 
zerland. The  charred  bones  of  animals  used  as  food, 
the  implements  found  in  the  debris,  and  the  graves  left 
by  these  hordes  of  human  beings  give  hints  of  their  at- 
tainments in  invention  and  civilization.  For  the  last  ten 
or  twenty  thousand  years  the  development  of  European 
man  can  rudely  be  traced,  not  as  the  history  of  the  rise 
and  fall  of  nations,  but  as  the  record  of  man's  achieve- 
ments, as  he  perfected  his  tools  and  weapons,  developed 
an  aesthetic  sense  as  shown  by  his  fondness  for  ornamenta- 
tion, and  thought  out  rude  theories  of  religion  as  shown 
by  methods  of  burial.  At  the  present  time  here  and  there 
in  secluded  or  inhospitable  parts  of  the  earth  may  still  be 
found  simple  races  that  doubtless  reproduce  with  a  fair 
degree  of  accuracy  the  earliest  civilization  of  man.  In 
some  cases  undoubtedly  these  races  represent  a  retrogres- 
sion from  a  higher  civilization.  Beaten  in  warfare  and 
fleeing  from  their  conquerors,  they  settled  in  bleak  and 
sterile  lands  desired  by  no  other  human  beings.  Thus, 
lacking  incentives  to  progress  they  sank  back  in  the  scale 
of  civilization. 

Other  races  again,  like  the  blacks  of  Australia,^  repre- 
sent early  man  after  a  seclusion  of  many  thousand  years, 
cut  off  from  intercourse  with  other  races,  and  typifying 
in  their  hoary  yet  primitive  civilization  the  maximum  of 
attainment  possible  to  a  group  when  out  of  contact  with 
vigorous   and   aggressive   alien   groups.      Traditions   of 

'  See  Spencer  and  Gillen  in  bibliography. 


EARLY  SOCIAL  DEVELOPMENT  145 

primitive  civilization,  largely  imaginary,  are  common 
among  all  prominent  races,  and  are  familiar  to  us  through 
Semitic  and  Aryan  legends  and  through  the  story  and 
verse  of  the  classical  writers  of  Greece  and  Rome.  It  was 
the  Eden  of  Genesis,  the  Golden  Age  of  Ovid,  and  the 
simple  life  of  early  times  that  Greek  and  Latin  philoso- 
phers finally  evolved  into  the  famous  theory  of  the  primi- 
tive state  of  nature.  In  this  condition,  so  the  philoso- 
phers said,  men  lived  happy,  peaceful  lives  doing  justice 
one  to  another,  living  on  the  natural  fruits  of  the  earth, 
and  having  fear  neither  of  the  gods  nor  wild  beasts  nor 
of  one  another.^ 

However  attractive  these  pleasing  fancies  were  down 
even  through  the  Eighteenth  Century  when  the  French 
encyclopaedists  and  Rousseau  *  so  emphasized  nature  and 
natural  conditions,  to-day  some  of  the  glamour  has  faded 
from  those  bright  pictures  of  primitive  man,  and  we  see 
him  through  anthropological  researches  more  nearly  as 
he  was  in  those  early  days ;  a  human  being  to  be  sure, 
but  not  sharply  differentiated  from  his  animal  ancestry 
and  subject  to  the  conditions  of  that  precarious  life.  He 
lived  in  the  midst  of  dangerous  animal  competitors  who 
loved  the  taste  of  human  flesh;  his  half-starved  body 
shivered  in  the  cold  rains  and  blasts  of  the  winter;  or  he 
lay  gorged  and  enervated  by  the  riotous  plenty  and  heat 
of  the  summer.  His  awakening  intellect  was  multiplying 
his  enemies  by  surrounding  him  with  supernatural  beir' 
malevolent  and  hostile.  He  lacked  the  speed,  agilit"' 
muscular  strength  of  his  animal  rivals,  and  yet  ♦" 
to  seek  his  safety  on  the  earth's  surface  inste? 

'  See,  for  example,  Plato's  Republic,  Book  IL 
his  Lazes,  Book  III,  Sees.  676-684. 

*  See     John     Morley,     Diderot,     and     Rr 
I'incgalite  dcs  conditions, 


146  SOCIOLOGY 

the  trees,  where  he  would  have  enjoyed  comparative  im- 
munity from  attack  by  animals  inexpert  in  climbing.  Yet 
the  very  strenuousness  of  these  conditions  gave  him  the 
environment  that  stimulated  the  development  of  mentality 
and  finally  gave  him  supremacy  among  all  the  beasts  of 
the  field.  Unquestionably  the  harsh  competitive  condi- 
tions of  his  life  developed  in  man  a  mental  shrewdness 
that  in  process  of  time  sharply  differentiated  him  from 
other  animals.  Just  how  this  took  place  can  best  be 
seen  in  the  statements  of  anthropology,  but  we  feel  sure 
that  as  man  assumed  an  erect  position  and  developed 
a  flexible  hand,  he  slowly  acquired  the  use  of  tools,  prob- 
ably beginning  with  a  stone  in  the  hand  or  a  knotty  branch 
used  as  a  club,  and  from  these  slight  beginnings  gradu- 
ally added  to  his  stock  of  implements  and  weapons;  de- 
vised ornamentation,  clothing,  and  housing;  and  began 
to  utilize  empirically  the  most  obvious  powers  of  nature, 
such  as  the  force  of  gravitation,  flowing  water,  fire,  and 
the  propelling  energy  of  wind. 

Human  beings  were  in  the  beginning  only  slightly  gre- 
garious and  not  much  inclined  to  mass  in  large  numbers. 
When  men  live  by  hunting  and  on  natural  foods,  com- 
peting for  these  with  animal  rivals,  the  land  can  support 
only  a  scant  population.  Primitive  man  knew  no  kin 
save  the  natural  connection  between  mother  and  imma- 
ture child ;  and  recognized  no  friends  outside  of  his  im- 
mediate horde.  Though  he  must  have  recognized  his 
kind  as  distinct  from  other  forms  of  animal  life,  yet  it 
would  be  more  natural  to  be  on  guard  in  the  presence  of 
strange  human  beings,  rather  than  to  assume  the  exist- 
ence of  friendly  feelings  and  sympathetic  ties.  Even  yet 
men  of  northern  climates  often  prefer  to  live  apart  from 
human  kind  and  would  enjoy  least  of  all  a  communal  life 


EARLY  SOCIAL  DEVELOPMENT  147 

like  that  of  the  bee  or  the  ant.  The  crowd  is  "madden- 
ing" to  many,  and  while  a  social  disposition  is  best  cul- 
tivated through  congenial  companionship,  individualism 
of  an  intellectual  sort  demands  at  intervals  the  closed 
door,  the  wilderness,  or  the  mountain  top. 

Definite  Social  Grouping. — The  change  to  a  defi- 
nite and  fairly  permanent  group  life  probably  came  about 
through  intellectual  growth.  Individuals,  surrounded  by 
enemies  and  eking  out  an  insufficient  and  precarious  live- 
lihood, slowly  began  to  perceive  the  real  utility  of  living 
in  a  group,  first  as  a  hunting  band  in  the  hunting  season, 
and  then  permanently  as  a  war  band  organized  for  of- 
fense and  defense.  Whenever  such  a  primitive  horde  be- 
came fairly  permanent,  so  that  a  race  through  its  de- 
scendants held  together  in  tribal  relations  for  generations, 
from  that  time  civilization  may  be  said  to  have  definitely 
started,  since  a  stable  condition  was  secured  as  a  basis 
for  future  progress.  The  reason  for  this  is  obvious  on 
a  moment's  reflection.  When  human  beings  become  per- 
manently associated,  their  habits  and  customs  by  social 
imitation  become  similar,  kinship  ties  become  clearer,  and 
the  family  becomes  a  fixed  institution.  Knowledge  of 
implements  also  and  inventive  notions  of  all  sorts  become 
common  property  and  are  handed  on  by  tradition  from 
generation  to  generation.  Prohibitions  in  the  form  of 
tabus  and  regulations  of  individual  activity  become  pos- 
sible, and  then  must  follow  the  conviction  that  some 
authority  must  enforce  these.  Especially  in  war  did  it  be- 
come necessary  to  emphasize  supremacy,  subordination, 
and  obedience  to  command,  even  though  group  safety  had 
to  be  purchased  at  the  risk  of  life  or  limb  to  the  individual. 
At  the  same  time  war  placed  a  premium  on  skill  in  battle, 
on  effective  organization,  and  on  the  invention  of  new 


148  SOCIOLOGY 

weapons  for  offense  and  defense.^  In  group  life,  also, 
men  through  conversation  readily  exchanged  their  rude 
imaginations  respecting  the  supernatural  agencies  by 
which  they  were  surrounded,  or  in  their  fear  they  Ustened 
eagerly  to  the  experiences  of  those  who  had  by  chance  or 
reflection  learned  how  to  propitiate  these  dread-inspiring 
beings.  Most  important  of  all,  by  frequent  contact  with 
one  another  they  began  tO'  acquire  some  facility  in  lan- 
guage, to  accustom  their  vocal  organs  to  the  reproduction 
of  definite  sounds,  to  extend  their  vocabularies,  and  by 
means  of  words  to  enlarge  their  stock  of  ideas.  We  see 
then  that  from  the  time  when  men  definitely  combined  in 
hordes  for  safety's  sake,  there  developed  a  group  organi- 
zation that  slowly  and  unconsciously  began  to  evolve  the 
great  permanent  agencies  and  institutions  of  social  life: 
language,  the  family,  religion,  economic  activities  and 
government,  law,  and  crude  systems  of  education.  Such 
a  horde-group  is  the  unit  of  ancient  society  and  the  start- 
ing point  for  studies  of  social  development. 

We  are  not  to  assume  that  these  permanent  hordes  de- 
veloped very  early  in  human  history.  Presumedly  for 
thousands  of  years  groups  of  savages,  held  together  by 
temporary  ties,  broke  away  from  their  accustomed  habitats 
and  roamed  the  country,  relying  on  their  weapons  for 
support,  following  the  game,  seeking  fertile  spots  where 
nature  spontaneously  supplied  natural  fruits  and  edible 
vegetation,  and  developing  in  their  blood  a  Wanderlust 
that  still  carries  peoples  and  individuals  far  away  from 
their  home  lands,  in  search  of  some  El  Dorado  or  Utopia 
lying  toward  the  rising  or  the  setting  sun,^     Had  these 

"  For  an  interesting  study  of  early  weapons,  see  Pitt-Rivers, 
Evolution  of  Culture. 

*  For  an  excellent  illustration  of  this  spirit,  see  a  fascinating  ac- 
count of  Raleigh's  voyage  to  New  Guinea,  Ncu'cs  of  Sir  Walter 
Rauleigh,  1618,  London,  probably  written  by  Raleigh  himself. 


EARLY  SOCIAL  DEVELOPMENT  149 

conditions  of  primitive  migration  remained  permanent, 
advanced  civilization  would  not  have  been  possible;  like 
lowly  savages  of  secluded  parts  of  the  earth,  all  mankind 
might  have  remained  indefinitely  a  child-like  race,  living 
from  hand  to  mouth,  fixed  in  low  mentality,  and  unable 
to  make  progress  through  the  instability  of  their  group 
life.  As  a  rule,  animal  life  in  any  given  area  is  kept 
within  bounds  by  starvation  and  mutual  slaughter,  the 
natural  means  whereby  the  amount  of  life  is  adjusted  to 
the  food  supply.  Human  kind  in  its  beginnings  doubtless 
multiplied  slowly  because  of  this  principle,  so  clearly  ex- 
plained by  MalthusJ  But  when  primitive  man,  by  means 
of  weapons,  obtained  his  food  supplies  with  greater  fa- 
cilit}^,  and,  relying  on  his  skill,  wandered  far  and  wide 
over  the  face  of  the  earth,  mankind  must  have  multiplied 
with  wonderful  rapidity.  Yet,  after  centuries  of  increase 
the  old  trouble  became  manifest;  in  fertile  river  valleys 
and  on  the  grassy  plains  population  was  multiplying 
faster  than  nature  spontaneously  furnished  food,  and  a 
change  of  some  sort  became  inevitable.  Doubtless  at  this 
time  began  what  later  became  the  solution  of  the  ques- 
tion, at  least  for  many  ages,  namely  the  knowledge  of 
agriculture  and  the  domestication  of  animals.  But  the 
beginnings  of  these  were  slow  and  difficult,  and  the  ad- 
vantage to  be  derived  from  them  not  immediately  per- 
ceived. Before  they  had  attained  any  prominence,  an- 
other remedy  for  the  population  difficulty  had  been  found 
in  war. 

Former  Utility  of  War. — It  is  hard  in  these  days 
to  appreciate  the  former  utility  of  institutions  now  con- 
demned by  public  opinion.  War  is  to-day  looked  on  as 
a  necessary  evil,  but  it  is  in  common  opinion  an  evil 

*T.  R.  Malthus,  The  Principle  of  Population. 


150  SOCIOLOGY 

from  which  we  should  escape  as  soon  as  possible,  for 
world-wars  in  modern  centuries  retard  civilization 
through  their  destructiveness  and  engendered  suspicions 
and  hatreds.  Yet  wars  in  low  civilization  had  a  decidedly 
useful  function  when  there  was  a  surplus  population,  and 
no  peaceful  means  of  migration.  At  any  rate,  when  in 
early  days  the  garden  spots  of  earth  were  filled  with  a 
teeming  population,  and  hungry  hordes  on  the  outside 
fingered  their  weapons  and  speculated  on  their  chances 
of  success  in  battle,  trouble  was  inevitable.  As  Ovid 
puts  it,  the  golden  age  was  succeeded  by  the  ages  of  sil- 
ver, of  brass,  and  of  iron,  as  men  pitted  themselves 
one  against  another  and  fought  for  food,  plunder,  and 
land.  Then  the  contented  and  peaceable  disposition  of 
savage  civilization  that  so  easily  accompanies  a  full 
stomach  began  to  yield  to  a  fierce  and  pugnacious  spirit 
that  warred  for  spoils  and  for  the  mere  joy  of  killing. 
Then  probably  developed  the  practice  of  cannibalism, 
when  men  hunted  their  enemJes  as  a  source  of  food,  the 
custom  becoming  fixed  and  sanctioned,  as  the  pressure  of 
population  on  food  supplies  intensified,  since  there  was 
then  no  repugnance  at  the  thought  of  eating  human  flesh. 
For  many  centuries  this  state  of  continuous  war  lasted 
in  the  attempt  to  adjust  population  to  food  supplies,  until 
the  slow  development  of  pastoral  life  and  of  agriculture, 
lessened  the  frequency  of  war  by  allowing  a  larger  popu- 
lation to  subsist  on  a  given  territory. 

There  were  certain  obvious  social  benefits  arising  from 
this  stage  of  warfare.  It  meant  the  survival  of  the  strong 
and  the  elimination  of  the  weak;  men  in  defense  of  their 
hunting  grounds  were  stimulated  to  greater  mentality 
and  inventive  ingenuity  so  as  to  be  able  to  cope  more 
successfully  in  war;  they  were  compelled  to  form  larger 


EARLY  SOCIAL  DEVELOPMENT  151 

and  more  permanent  groups  and  thereby  developed  a 
"consciousness  of  kind''  and  fighting  strength  against  the 
foe;  and  racial  boundary  lines  developed  of  necessity,  if 
only  the  faint  and  movable  line  of  the  hunting  ground. 
And  with  growing  fixity  in  racial  population  and  habita- 
tion, the  social  group  came  into  existence  with  rapidly 
differentiating  institutions,  yet  integrated  through  the 
leadership  of  the  group.  In  such  ways  as  these  a  civili- 
zation founded  on  the  war  group  was  started. 

It  is  possible,  therefore,  on  the  basis  of  this  knowledge 
of  early  civilization,  to  trace  the  intimate  connection  be- 
tween war  and  high  civilization,  and  to  explain  that  seem- 
ing paradox  of  history,  why  the  fiercest  and  most  war- 
like of  nations  regularly  represent  the  high-water  mark 
of  civilization,  and  why  the  most  kindly  and  peaceful  of 
peoples  have  so  regularly  served  as  serfs  and  slaves  to 
their  opposites.  On  the  one  side  we  have  from  Christ 
to  Tolstoi  the  teaching  that  the  meek  shall  inherit  the 
earth ;  on  the  other  side  we  have  the  Gallic  va:  victis  and 
the  superman  of  Nietzche,  who  proudly  tramples  on  the 
meek  and  accepts  as  his  due  the  devotion  and  service  of 
those  he  oppresses. 

War,  with  all  of  its  implications,  has  become  a  part  of 
social  competition,  and  a  love  of  it  is  deeply  ingrained  in 
the  blood  of  the  dominant  races.  A  problem  of  social 
progress  is  to  turn  the  intensity  of  this  fierce  desire  for 
conquest  and  mastery  away  from  thoughts  of  human 
subjugation  and  toward  the  conquest  and  mastery  over 
nature  and  the  subjugation  of  bestial  survivals  in  the 
human  heart. 

Social  Principles  Underlying  Development. — From 
such  teachings  of  the  anthropological  sciences  in  respect 
to  social  development,  many  theories  have  been  advanced 


152  SOCIOLOGY 

which  aim  to  set  forth  the  social  principle  underlying 
development.  It  is  hardly  necessary  here  to  discuss  most 
of  these,  but  attention  will  be  directed  briefly  to  a  few 
of  the  explanations  that  have  been  advanced  by  prominent 
sociologists.  We  see  that  to-day  the  institutions  of  so- 
ciety are  nimierous,  highly  specialized,  and  exceedingly 
complex.  Yet  ages  ago,  as  already  shown,  these  were 
few,  simple,  and  easily  comprehended.  What  has  been 
the  order  of  the  changes,  and  why  did  the  simple  become 
complex?  Herbert  Spencer,  in  his  Principles  of  Sociol- 
ogy endeavored  to  show  how  the  activities  or  functions 
of  society  multiplied,  how  each  fundamental  activity 
would  subdivide  or  differentiate,  how  institutions  or  so- 
cial structures  developed  through  which  these  activities 
could  best  be  carried  on,  how  agencies  for  the  regulation 
of  these  activities  developed  one  by  one,  and  how  other 
agencies  arose  to  see  to  the  proper  distribution  of  the 
products  of  social  activity.  In  connection  with  all  this  he 
sought  to  show  tliat  the  principle  of  evolution,  as  ex- 
plained by  him  in  his  First  Principles  of  Synthetic  Phil- 
osophy, held  true  in  social  development  also,  and  hence 
that  the  cosmic  principles  of  evolution  would  explain  the 
slow  changes  in  the  development  of  society.  Thus,  by  im- 
plication, if  one  comprehended  both  the  process  or  law 
of  development  and  the  principle  of  evolution,  he  would 
also  be  able  to  foresee  the  trend  of  social  change,  and 
thereby  become  a  wise  guide  in  respect  to  current  social 
movements. 

Sympathy  and  Imitation. — Other  sociological  writers 
have  not  ventured  to  follow  Spencer  in  his  exhaustive 
historical  researches  into  the  development  of  institutions,^ 

'  For  the  data  used  by  Spencer  as  the  basis  for  his  Principles  of 
Sociology  see  his  charts  of  Descriptive  Sociology. 


EARLY  SOCIAL  DEVELOPMENT  153 

but  have  been  content  to  accept  the  results  of  investiga- 
tions in  such  matters  made  by  others.  From  a  knowledge 
of  these  they  have  endeavored  to  set  forth  some  principle 
that  would  explain  why  human  beings  hold  together  at  all 
and  how  the  simple  primitive  horde  evolved  into  modern 
complex  society.  In  such  explanations  one  set  of  writers 
tends  to  emphasize  the  permanent  aspects  of  the  mind  as 
reproducing  themselves  over  and  over  again  in  successive 
generations,  modified  only  by  slight  variations,  but  tend- 
ing always  to  return  to  the  fundamentals  of  human  nature. 
For  instance,  the  sympathy  and  sociability  that  naturally 
exist  between  mother  and  offspring  in  mammals,  may  in 
human  kind  broaden  out  so  as  to  include  kin,  clan,  tribe, 
nation,  and  all  humanity,  and  hence  may  explain  the  grow- 
ing solidarity  of  the  human  race.  Or,  again,  as  the  nat- 
ural disposition  is  toward  the  path  of  least  resistance,  per- 
sons in  their  development  find  it  easier  to  imitate  and  to 
grow  like  those  with  whom  they  are  intimately  in  con- 
tact; hence  the  strength  of  social  unity  comes  from  the 
growth  of  kinship  ties  and  common  customs,  traditions 
and  beliefs,  men  preferring  the  like  to  the  unlike,  the 
usual  to  the  unusual. 

The  Intellect  and  Innovation. — Still  another  school 
of  writers  emphasizes  the  intellect  as  the  important  fac- 
tor in  development.  The  mind  learns  slowly  to  perceive 
its  truer  permanent  interests,  and  aims  to  attain  these, 
not  merely  to  satisfy  animal  feelings,  or  to  imitate  auto- 
matically the  members  of  the  group.  By  reflection  it 
learns  the  advantage  of  seeking  to  satisfy  the  demands 
of  special  and  individual  interests,  the  utility  of  which 
is  perceived.  Hence,  they  argue,  development  comes 
not  merely  from  the  gradual  differentiation  by  slow  varia- 
tion from  some  fundamental  horde  type,  or  from  the 


154  SOCIOLOGY 

mere  imitation  of  set  standards  of  an  older  generation, 
but  rather  when  men  dehberately  cut  loose  from  the 
beaten  paths,  introduce  innovations,  and  strive  to  have 
these  standardized  as  types  to  be  imitated  by  the  inert 
mass  who  neither  reason  nor  originate.  From  this  stand- 
point emphasis  is  naturally  placed  on  the  genius,  the  no- 
bility, the  learned  aristocracy  of  a  group  as  the  real  orig- 
inators of  social  progress. 

Group  Differences. — Other  writers  again  call  at- 
tention to  the  importance  of  group  differences  and  rival- 
ries as  a  factor  in  development.  Just  as  conflicting  forces 
tend  to  equilibrate  or  balance,  so  the  differences  that 
exist  owing  to  the  influence  of  varying  environments  reg- 
ularly tend  to  assimilate  when  they  come  in  contact.  The 
moment  that  two  dissimilar  groups  approach  each  other, 
they  tend  to  coalesce  and  ultimately  to  harmonize.  This 
process  may  be  a  violent  one,  as  when  warring  groups 
become  unified  by  conquest  and  compulsory  and  uncon- 
scious assimilation  takes  place,  or  it  may  be  conscious 
and  peaceable,  as  when  through  commerce  and  other 
forms  of  social  intercourse  two  dissimilar  civilizations 
slowly  exchange  ideas,  and  by  mutual  imitation  and  as- 
similation in  course  of  time  approximate  toward  a  com- 
mon type. 

These  several  theories  all  unite  in  the  conclusion  that 
there  is  a  definite  law  or  order,  in  accordance  with  which 
society  advances  and  human  institutions  develop,  and 
that  there  is  some  principle  of  causation  which  explains 
how  this  development  takes  place.  They  differ  some- 
what as  to  whether  this  principle  is  in  substance  that 
taught  by  Spencer,  or  the  principles  of  sympathy,  imita- 
tion, innovation,  or  conflict.  All  of  these  principles  in 
fact  have  their  part  in  the  final  explanation,  and  it  is  per- 


EARLY  SOCIAL  DEVELOPMENT  155 

haps  needless  to  assume  that  there  must  be  one  principle, 
and  one  principle  only,  in  explanation  of  social  develop- 
ment. 

Illustrations  of  These  Theories. — If  we  turn  again 
to  our  knowledge  of  primitive  horde-groups,  we  may 
see  illustration  of  these  theories  in  group  development. 
Suppose  a  group  of  human  beings  comfortably  settled  in 
a  favorable  environment,  untroubled  by  dangerous  neigh- 
bors, and  even  apart  from  the  rest  of  humanity.  It  is 
easy  to  see  that  development  would  be  natural,  sponta- 
neous, and  chiefly  through  imitation.  By  intermarriage 
the  members  of  the  group  would  become  a  kindred,  and 
would  become  solidified  in  sympathy  by  common  cus- 
toms and  interests.  Changes  might  come,  but  these  would 
be  relatively  insignificant  since  the  people  and  their  en- 
vironment are  practically  fixed.  Through  imitation  they 
would  develop  a  common  type  of  economic  life,  of  family, 
religion,  and  government,  and  would  discourage  innova- 
tions as  tending  to  destroy  the  time-honored  teachings  of 
their  ancestors. 

Again,  suppose  that  this  group  meets  with  an  impor- 
tant modification  in  environment,  for  instance,  that  by 
natural  increase  there  comes  an  excess  of  population  over 
food  supplies.  There  would  now  be  need  for  some  im- 
portant innovation.  By  chance  a  leader  may  arise  who 
suggests  to  them  that  they  reduce  population  by  putting 
to  death  female  infants  and  the  useless,  such  as  the  aged 
or  the  weak;  or  shows  them  how  to  draft  off  the  sur- 
plus population  and  compel  them  to  migrate;  or  teaches 
them  how  they  may  increase  food  supplies  by  the  domes- 
tication of  animals,  by  agriculture,  or  by  improved  tools, 
or  by  exchanging  surplus  goods  for  foods,  or  by  warring 
on  neighboring  tribes  and  capturing  their  supplies  and 


156  SOCIOLOGY 

resources.  Any  one  of  these  suggestions  would  neces- 
sarily compel  changes  in  the  old-time  system.  The  sym- 
pathetic ties  of  kinship  must  be  violently  broken  or  shat- 
tered through  senicide,  infanticide,  or  migration;  the  eco- 
nomic customs  of  the  hunting  group  must  be  exchanged 
for  the  methods  of  pastoral  or  agricultural  life;  and  a 
governmental  system  suited  to  peace  would  be  readapted 
for  purposes  of  war  or  commerce.  Evidently  in  such 
circumstances  the  innovator  would  be  a  powerful  factor 
in  social  development,  and  he  might  be  remembered  for 
centuries  in  tradition  and  history  as  a  founder  of  a  new 
civilization,  Hke  Moses,  Cecrops,  Servius  Tullius,  or  the 
Incas  of  Peru. 

Again,  suppose  that  the  group  under  consideration  con- 
cludes to  engage  in  commerce,  or  starts  out  on  a  career 
of  conquest.  In  the  one  activity  it  comes  in  contact  with 
another  civilization,  differing  institutions,  and  other  ideas 
and  ideals  of  life;  the  contrasts  are  noted,  and  slowly  a 
peaceable  assimilation  takes  place,  each  group  modifying 
its  own  by  the  partial  adoption  of  the  other's  culture.  In 
the  other  instance  by  conquest  it  settles  as  a  ruling  class 
over  the  surviving  members  of  the  conquered  race.  With- 
out necessarily  intending  to,  the  races  soon  begin  to  amal- 
gamate. Many  of  the  conquered  females  become  subor- 
dinate wives  of  their  conquerors,  the  offspring  partake  of 
the  characteristics  of  both,  language  and  customs  tend  to 
become  assimilated,  economic  interests  slowly  unite  them 
for  common  purposes,  and  the  necessity  for  joint  action 
in  war  from  time  to  time  cements  them  into  one  people. 
If  the  amalgamation  is  between  two  fairly  equal  or  not 
too  dissimilar  stocks,  the  resultant  strain  is  probably 
superior  to  either  of  the  original  stocks.  Deterioration 
follows  too  close  inbreeding,  whether  of  races  or  civiliza- 


EARLY  SOCIAL  DEVELOPMENT  157 

tion,  and  advance  is  made  by  mingling  differing,  but  not 
too  different,  kinds. 

In  these  suppositions  we  fmd  illustrations  of  a  process 
that  has  gone  on  since  human  society  first  began.  As  long 
as  conditions  remain  practically  the  same,  social  imitation 
dominates,  and  a  static  or  stationary  civilization  prevails ; 
if  serious  modifications  take  place  in  conditions,  either 
innovation  must  be  accepted  or  degradation  and  exter- 
mination become  inevitable;  if  through  commerce  or  war 
differing,  but  approximately  equal,  civilizations  are 
brought  in  opposition,  the  resultant  amalgamation  of 
races  and  assimilation  of  civilizations  imply  progress. 
In  almost  any  period  of  human  history,  or  in  any  part  of 
the  earth,  numerous  illustrations  of  these  three  principles 
may  be  found.  Everywhere  in  static  civilization  may 
be  observed  that  natural  disposition  of  mankind  to  settle 
back  and  believe  in  the  goodness  of  the  past  and  the  per- 
fection of  the  present;  to  frown  on  the  radical  who  sug- 
gests the  possibility  of  improvement  by  change;  and  to 
throw  up  the  hands  in  holy  horror  at  the  thought  that  any 
good  can  come  to  Judea  from  out  of  Nazareth.  On  the 
other  hand,  we  see  the  long,  long  roll  of  martyrdom  as 
men  and  women  in  all  ages  sought  to  introduce  innova- 
tions in  social,  political,  and  religious  life,  and  went  to 
their  deaths  in  the  faint  hope  that  the  day  would  yet 
come  when  their  persecutors  would  realize  that  they  had 
killed  those  who  had  sought  to  upbuild  their  people.  Fi- 
nally in  the  long  and  bloody  record  of  war,  of  massacre, 
slaughter,  and  persecution,  we  see  arising  from  it  all, 
races  of  mixed  blood,  energetic,  forceful,  ambitious,  who 
inherit  along  with  the  fighting  qualities  of  their  ancestors 
their  mental  and  moral  qualities  also,  as  the  basis  for  a 
higher  and  more  enduring  civilization.    The  old  riddle  of 


158  SOCIOLOGY 

Samson  still  has  point,  "Out  of  the  eater  came  forth  meat, 
and  out  of  the  strong  came  forth  sweetness."  ®  War  is 
followed  by  peace,  and  peace  also  has  its  record  of  vic- 
tories. 

•Judges  XIV,  14. 


CHAPTER  XI 

ACHIEVEMENT  AND   CIVILIZATION 

The  words,  "civilization"  and  "achievement"  have  par- 
ticular significance  and  importance  in  sociological  usage, 
for  sociology  is  deeply  concerned  with  the  history  and 
study  of  achievement,  and  with  the  possibilities  of  im- 
provement in  civilization  through  human  achievement, 
since  civilization  after  all  may  be  considered  as  the  sum 
total  of  achievement. 

Animal  Achievement. — It  is  possible  to  speak  of  the 
achievement  of  animals  and  to  call  attention  to  their 
successful  attainment  of  ends  through  effort.  One  might 
also  speak  of  their  civilization  and  grade  them  as  high 
or  low  in  the  scale  of  development,  according  to  the  qual- 
ity of  their  achievements.  They  grow  weapons  of  of- 
fense and  defense,  such  as  the  claw  of  the  lobster  or  the 
antlers  of  the  stag;  they  grow  or  build  homes,  as  the 
shell  of  the  snail  or  the  nest  of  the  bird ;  wolves  organize 
hunting  bands,  ants  engage  in  war,  and  bees  live  in  in- 
dustrial communities ;  beavers  construct  dams,  squirrels 
store  food  for  the  winter,  and  deer  place  sentinels  while 
browsing. 

Family  organization  in  its  familiar  forms  of  polyg- 
amy and  monogamy  is  well  defined  among  higher  ani- 
mals; instruction,  by  example  at  least,  is  given  to  the 
young ;  there  seems  to  be  a  clear  appreciation  of  some  dis- 
tinctions in  morals  and  aesthetics ;  the  rudiments  at  least 

159 


i6o  SOCIOLOGY 

of  human  Intelligence  may  be  observed  in  the  elephant, 
and  in  the  dog's  attitude  toward  man  there  is  a  rude  sort 
of  religion.  Indeed,  when  the  highest  animals  such  as 
the  chimpanzee  or  the  orang-outang  and  the  lowest  sav- 
ages such  as  those  in  Tierra  del  Fuego  are  compared,  the 
observer  is  often  tempted  to  declare  that  the  advantage 
is  rather  in  favor  of  the  animal.  It  is  entirely  possible, 
therefore,  to  study  a  sort  of  animal  social  phenomena 
and  to  trace  the  record  of  animal  civiHzation  and  achieve- 
ment.^ 

Human  Achievement. — And  yet,  even  though  the 
border  line  is  vague,  there  is  a  sharp  distinction  between 
the  animal  and  the  human  being,  not  so  much  perhaps  in 
kind  as  in  degree  and  quality  of  development.  Presum- 
ably the  chief  distinction  is  that  what  the  animal  does  is 
on  the  whole  done  instinctivel}/  or  through  habit,  with- 
out any  clear  notion  of  purpose  in  the  mind  or  a  compre- 
hension of  the  means  employed.  While  man  also  has  his 
instincts  and  his  automatic  activities,  he  has,  in  addition, 
developed  the  power  of  conscious  reasoning  through 
which  he  deliberately  sets  before  himself  desirable  ends, 
seeks  to  comprehend  the  best  methods  of  attaining  these, 
and  performs  the  resultant  activities  with  conscious  ob- 
servation, comparison,  and  experiment.  Furthermore, 
after  accomplishing  an  achievement  he  does  not  depend 
for  its  reproduction  on  the  processes  of  natural  selection, 
or  on  an  endless  repetition,  or  even  on  an  immediate  con- 
scious imitation,  but  he  stores  away  the  idea  of  it  in  his 
memory,  or  else  confides  it  through  language  to  his  or 
a  succeeding  generation,  thus  making  it  a  social  posses- 
sion which  can  be  recalled  into  use  even  after  many  gen- 

*  As    studies    of    this    sort,    note    Kropotkin's    Mutual   Aid   and 
Espinas'  Des  socictcs  anitnales. 


ACHIEVEMENT  AND  CIVILIZATION  i6i 

erations  of  forgetfulness  and  disuse  have  passed.  In 
other  words,  human  achievement  is  mental,  the  product 
of  the  intellect,  and  is  stored  up  in  the  mind,  while  ani- 
mal achievements  in  the  main  are  physical  and  automatic, 
involving  no  conscious  mental  process. 

If  human  achievement  is  fundamentally  intellectual, 
then  civilization  must  be  based  on  mental  attainment. 
Civilization  is  not  merely  the  possession  of  a  series  of 
achievements;  it  implies  in  addition  a  comprehension  of 
the  ideas  underlying  these.  A  troop  of  monkeys  inhabit- 
ing the  ruins  of  a  deserted  city  in  the  jungle  of  India  is 
not  thereby  civilized,  nor  did  the  barbarians  who  con- 
quered Rome  at  once  attain  civilization  when  they  took 
possession  of  its  cities;  nor  would  a  savage  become  civ- 
lized  if  by  chance  he  were  clothed  in  the  height  of  fash- 
ion and  lived  in  the  midst  of  the  most  highly  developed 
social  institutions.  Furthermore,  no  nation  that  pos- 
sesses wealth,  machinery,  magnificent  edifices,  and  well- 
stocked  libraries  can  for  that  reason  lay  claim  to  be  fully 
civilized.  There  may  be  within  it  a  large  per  cent  of 
primitive  savages,  rude  barbarians,  half -civilized  clan- 
nish conservatives  who  belong  far  back  in  patriarchal 
times,  and  a  comparatively  small  per  cent  only  who  com- 
prehend the  ideas  back  of  machinery,  invention,  social  in- 
stitutions, and  the  ideals  of  cultural  civilization. 

That  nation  only  can  call  itself  civilized  in  which  the 
general  body  of  citizens  has  grasped  the  ideas  of  achieve- 
ment, and  knows  how  to  use  them  effectively.  If  this 
knowledge  is  held  by  but  few,  as  is  usually  the  fact,  the 
nation  is  seriously  handicapped,  since  the  many  are  to 
all  intents  and  purposes  lower  in  the  quality  of  their  civ- 
ilization, inasmuch  as  their  actions  are  dictated  not  by 
the  intellect  but  })y  unreasoning  custom  and  imitation. 


i62  SOCIOLOGY 

For  such  reasons  no  modern  nation  so  far  is  capable  as  a 
whole  of  understanding  and  perpetuating  the  ideas  of  ad- 
vancing civilization,  so  that  each  nation  should  seek  to 
remedy  conditions  that  necessitate  a  retarded  development 
for  so  large  a  proportion  of  the  population. 

Material  Achievement. — Charges  are  often  made 
against  certain  nations  that  they  emphasize  unduly  the 
material  aspects  of  civilization.  Properly  defined,  a 
material  achievement  involves  a  knowledge  of  the  meth- 
ods of  utilizing  natural  materials  and  forces.  No  society 
can  have  too  much  of  this  sort  of  knowledge.  The  very 
essence  of  social  progress  of  all  sorts  is  involved  in  the 
possession  of  a  constantly  increasing  mass  of  material 
achievement,  and  the  lack  of  it  would  plunge  mankind 
back  into  primitive  savagery.  But  when  an  exploiting 
class  monopolizes  these  achievements  of  material  civiliza- 
tion and  uses  them  solely  for  selfish  purposes,  at  the  same 
time  exploiting  the  wage  earner  and  debauching  the  ethi- 
cal standards  of  society,  then  charges  may  well  be  brought 
not  against  material  civilization  as  such,  but  against 
those  who,  lacking  the  ideals  of  cultural  civilization,  use 
the  low  standards  of  former  ages  in  building  up  their 
selfish  interests  at  a  time  when  the  social  conscience  is 
demanding  higher  standards. 

Cultural  Achievement. — If  to  material  civilization 
we  add  cultural  civilization,  i.e.,  the  totality  of  ideas  and 
achievement  underlying  the  ethical,  aesthetic,  religious  and 
intellectual  development  of  society,  we  have  before  us 
the  two  great  aspects  of  civilization,  material  and  cul- 
tural, one  emphasizing  the  utilization  of  matter  and  nat- 
ural energy,  the  other  emphasizing  the  utilization  in  so- 
cial life  of  the  attainment  of  higher  culture  as  achieved 
by  the  human  mind. 


ACHIEVEMENT  AND  CIVILIZATION  163 

The  relationship  between  these  two  forms  of  civiHza- 
tion  is  intimate.  Broadly  speaking,  the  material  always 
precedes  the  cultural.  Lacking  material  civilization,  a 
society  is  condemned  to  an  endless  struggle  for  existence 
in  which  no  leisure  is  left  for  the  development  of  a 
higher  life.  As  material  civilization  increases,  leisure 
becomes  possible  for  a  steadily  increasing  per  cent  of 
mankind,  who  thereby  obtain  opportunity  for  the  dis- 
covery and  invention  of  newer  forms  of  material  achieve- 
ment, and  at  the  same  time  opportunity  for  mental  and 
moral  advancement.  Of  course,  here  and  there  in  the 
midst  of  strenuous  economic  conditions  may  be  found 
ambitious  persons  of  strong  personality  who,  while  en- 
gaged in  a  ceaseless  struggle  for  existence,  may  also  find 
time  for  study  and  occasionally  make  an  achievement; 
just  as  among  a  leisure  class  may  be  found  many  who 
misuse  their  opportunity  for  advancement  and  become 
parasitic  by  failing  to  make  achievement.  But,  in  gen- 
eral, every  society  must  develop  a  material  civilization 
before  it  can  hope  to  develop  a  cultural  civilization,  and 
this,  moreover,  depends  for  its  development  on  the 
amount  of  material  civilization  and  the  extent  to  which 
its  benefits  and  a  knowledge  of  it  are  shared  by  the  peo- 
ple as  a  whole. 

In  passing  from  these  definitions  it  may  be  necessary 
again  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  civilization  consists  fun- 
damentally of  the  ideas  underlying  achievement.  If  a 
society  should  by  chance  lose  all  of  its  material  wealth 
in  the  form  of  houses,  goods,  machinery,  and  other  tangi- 
ble possessions,  it  would  remain  civilized  if  it  retained 
the  ideas  involved  in  the  making  of  these  and  could  re- 
produce within  a  few  years  all  it  had  lost.  If,  however, 
it  lost  the  ideas  of  the  things  and  retained  the  things 


i54  SOCIOLOGY 

themselves,  it  would  have  the  shadow  and  not  the  sub- 
stance of  civilization  and  soon  would  lose  even  that. 

Meaning  of  Achievement. — If  civilization  is  made 
up  of  the  sum  total  of  achievement,  it  is  important  to 
understand  clearly  just  what  is  meant  by  that  term.  In 
plant  life  the  possibilities  of  development  are  determined 
by  the  conditions  of  a  fixed  environment.  In  animal 
life,  however,  there  is  a  possibility  of  change  of  environ- 
ment since  animals  have  the  power  of  locomotion  and  may, 
if  necessary,  migrate  and  thereby  place  themselves  under 
more  favorable  conditions,  as  when  flocks  of  birds  move 
to  warmer  climates  at  the  approach  of  winter.  But  man 
may  remain  in  his  accustomed  habitat,  and  through  his 
intellect  he  may  consciously  make  use  of  natural  ma- 
terials or  forces  in  such  a  way  as  to  produce  direct  modi- 
fications in  the  conditions  of  life,  thereby  making  achieve- 
ment. Nature  is  the  mother  of  all  things  and  in  cosmic 
history  has  brought  into  existence  stellar  systems  innu- 
merable, and  earth's  many  forms  of  plant  and  animal 
life,  including  man  with  his  dominant  intellectuality. 
This  inherited  energy  pulsating  through  the  brain  of  man 
has  stimulated  him  also  tO'  become  a  creator.  Under 
the  stress  of  keen  competition  his  mental  faculties  be- 
came sharpened  and  he  saw  how  he  might  lend  strength 
to  his  muscles  by  utilizing  as  a  weapon  or  tool  the 
rounded  stone  supplied  by  the  streams,  or  a  massive 
club  from  a  fallen  tree.  From  this  time  forth  he  defi- 
nitely entered  on  his  career  as  a  maker  of  tools  and 
weapons,  and  the  first  great  class  of  material  achieve- 
ments had  made  its  appearance.  Similarly,  he  learned 
in  time  to  comprehena  how  he  might  modify  his  environ- 
ment by  means  of  clothing  and  habitations  and  how  he 
might  add  to  the  comfort,  ease,  and  pleasure  of  life  by 


ACHIEVEMENT  AND  CIVILIZATION  165 

utilizing  the  natural  forces  displayed  so  powerfully  about 
him.  Hence  came  the  use  of  fire  for  warmth  and  the 
preparation  of  foods,  flowing  water  to  propel  his  simple 
canoe  and  carry  his  burdens,  and  wind  to  fill  the  sails  of 
his  primitive  boat.  Then  came  the  ability  to  utilize  ani- 
mals by  domestication  for  purposes  of  food  and  burden 
bearing,  and  the  capacity  to  compel  the  earth  to  yield  him 
foods  by  artificial  cultivation. 

Tools  of  the  Mind. — In  connection  with  these  came 
one  by  one  the  three  great  typical  "tools  of  the  mind,"  ^ 
language,  first  in  spoken  and  then  in  written  form,  reach- 
ing its  perfection  through  the  invention  of  the  Greek 
alphabet  and  its  numerous  modern  adaptations.  Then 
also  came  the  beginnings  of  mathematics  as  man  began 
to  grasp  more  exactly  the  distinction  between  the  one 
and  the  many,  and  later  developed  the  decimal  system, 
the  Arabic  notation,  and  the  many  modern  aspects  of 
higher  mathematics.  Then,  as  his  intellectual  processes 
became  more  exact  in  their  methods,  simple  forms  of 
logic  were  comprehended,  awaiting  only  the  passing  of 
centuries  and  the  insight  of  great  thinkers  for  the  de- 
velopment of  modern  logic  and  inductive  methods  of 
reasoning. 

Social  Institutions  as  Achievements. — Again  as  men 
combined  in  groups  they  saw  the  advantage  of  definite 
organization,  and  so,  little  by  little  worked  out  the  great 
fundamental  institutions  of  the  social  order,  namely, 
institutions  economic,  domestic,  religious,  educational, 
and  political.  From  these  also  were  worked  out  by  spe- 
cialization and  differentiation  secondary  institutions,  such 
as  the  great  historical  systems  of  kinship  and  the  cere- 
monial forms  of  marriage;  the  industrial  arts  and  trades; 

'See  Chapter  II. 


1 66  SOCIOLOGY 

sacerdotal  institutions  of  all  sorts  typified  by  the  church ; 
and  the  many  secondary  institutions  of  government  as 
illustrated,  for  example,  by  the  rise  of  law  and  juris- 
prudence. As  notions  of  goodness,  beauty,  and  truth 
budded  up  in  the  human  mind  men  developed  ideals  of 
art,  ethics,  and  philosophy,  and  made  these  concrete 
through  the  fine  arts,  through  the  development  of  moral 
and  philanthropic  codes  and  systems,  and  through  or- 
ganizations for  the  development  of  intellectual  achieve- 
ment. In  this  manner  can  be  traced  a  long  list  of  achieve- 
ments, both  material  and  cultural,  slowly  thought  out 
and  made  tangible,  under  the  spur  of  stern  necessity, 
through  mental  sweat  wresting  from  nature  its  secrets, 
each  tending  to  make  human  existence  more  endurable 
and  happier. 

A  little  reflection  shows  that  the  social  history  of  man 
would  consist  in  a  discussion  of  hie  achievements  and 
their  effects,  that  its  list  of  great  men  would  be  made  up 
of  those  who  have  added  valuable  achievements  to  civ- 
ilization, and  that  the  immortals  of  social  life  are  not 
those  who  merely  devastated  with  fire  and  sword,  but 
those  who  thought  out  a  great  invention,  made  a  sci- 
entific discovery,  or  formulated  a  fruitful  idea,  and  gave 
it  to  their  fellows.  The  real  Adam  of  social  life  was 
he  who  first  devised  a  tool,  and  the  real  Eve  she  who 
first  taught  her  offspring  the  simple  rude  sounds  of  prim- 
itive speech.  Each  achievement  when  made  is  treas- 
ured up  by  the  human  mind,  handed  qn  by  custom  or  tra- 
dition, or  confided  to  the  written  or  printed  page,  and 
lives  as  long  as  its  utility  is  evident,  passing  away  only 
when  superseded  by  a  better  and  greater  achievement. 
Every  material  achievement  should  lighten  the  labors 
of  man,  should  yield  him  for  his  toil  more  abundant  fruit, 


ACHIEVEMENT  AND  CIVILIZATION  167 

and  give  him  the  hope  that  the  time  will  yet  come  when 
he  will  so  completely  master  the  knowledge  of  how  best 
to  utilize  for  his  purposes  natural  materials  and  forces, 
that  he  will  be  virtually  free  from  the  stress  of  economic 
competition  and  the  struggle  for  daily  bread.  Then, 
freed  from  the  "curse,"  ^  he  will  no  longer  eat  his  bread 
in  the  sweat  of  his  face  but  shall  "sit  under  his  vine  and 
fig  tree,  none  making  him  afraid."*  Similarly,  as  he 
adds  to  his  mental  and  cultural  achievements  he  will 
understand  better  the  possibilities  of  jiis  own  mind,  he 
will  find  that  there  really  is  a  "royal  road  to  learning," 
he  will  master  the  sciences  one  by  one,  will  learn  how 
to  unify  his  knowledge,  to  moralize  his  practices,  and  to 
beautify  his  life,  until  as  a  god,  knowing  good  and  evil, 
he  will  begin  to  reach  out  after  the  hidden  knowledge 
of  the  universe  veiled  from  his  thought  at  present  be- 
cause of  his  ignorance  and  crude  mentality. 

Genetic  Achievement. — Early  civilization  and 
achievement  from  the  social  standpoint  are  genetic,  not 
telic,  and  achievements  for  the  most  part  are  individual, 
not  collective.  In  other  words,  social  groups  as  units 
did  not  deliberately  plan  out  their  achievements  or  fix 
on  their  standards  of  civilization.  These  grew  spon- 
taneously, naturally,  genetically,  and  were  determined  by 
the  particular  needs  and  conditions  at  the  time  or  as  the 
whim  and  fancy  of  the  moment  suggested.  So,  likewise, 
an  individual,  urged  on  by  pressing  need,  would  hit  on 
some  material  achievement  or  invention  that  would  speed- 

'  Genesis  III,  17-19.  "Cursed  is  the  ground  for  thy  sake;  in 
sorrow  shalt  thou  eat  of  it  all  the  days  of  thy  life;  thorns  also  and 
thistles  shall  it  bring  forth  to  thee;  and  thou  shalt  eat  the  herb  of 
the  field  ;  in  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  eat  bread,  till  thou 
return  unto  the  cTround ;  for  out  of  it  wast  thou  taken :  for  dust 
thou  art,  and  unto  dust  shalt  thou  return." 

*  Micah  IV.  4. 


i68  SOCIOLOGY 

ily  be  imitated  and  reproduced  by  his  fellows.  Or  the 
thinker  struggling  painfully  with  ideas  well  nigh  too 
large  for  expression  or  full  comprehension  would,  as 
prophet,  poet,  or  philosopher,  set  forth  for  the  satisfac- 
tion of  his  own  mind  thoughts  so  strange  and  wonderful 
to  his  companions  that  to  them  he  was  as  though  inspired 
by  some  divinity.  In  all  this  there  was  no  far-sighted 
social  end  in  view;  achievements  came  from  individuals 
under  the  stress  of  material  necessity  or  of  a  growing 
mentality  seeking  means  of  expression.  Yet  out  of  this 
chaos  of  achievement  by  slow  accretion  century  after 
century,  there  came  into  the  world  as  a  whole  an  appre- 
ciable civilization,  even  though  its  development  was  so 
slow  that  at  times  it  seemed  stationary  and  in  places  was 
even  recessive. 

At  rare  intervals  under  the  stimulus  of  a  great  crisis 
and  under  the  guidance  of  a  powerful  leader,  a  people 
or  nation  might  seem  to  rise  to  the  consciousness  of  a 
glorious  attainable  future,  and  for  a  period  might  strive 
consciously  and  purposefully  to  push  forward  in  achieve- 
ment and  civilization.  But  the  inciting  stimulus  died 
away,  the  great  man  was  succeeded  by  apathetic  sons, 
and  the  untrained  masses  gladly  settled  back  into  inertia, 
wearied  by  the  unusual  exertion  of  planning  for  the  mor- 
row. Warlike  leaders,  fiery  prophets,  inspiring  poets, 
may,  for  a  time  disturb  the  customs  and  traditions  of 
the  multitude,  but  when  the  storm  of  agitation  is  past, 
the  seemingly  irresistible  billows  sink  back  into  the  bosom 
of  the  sea  and  scarcely  a  ripple  marks  the  place. 

Telic  Achievement. — The  reason  is  perhaps  clear. 
Great  changes  are  not  made  through  genius  and  enthu- 
siasm unaided.  There  must  be  a  real  and  fundamental 
modification  of  environment,  there  must  be  an  achieve- 


ACHIEVEMENT  AND  CIVILIZATION  169 

ment  that  gives  to  man  a  powerful  weapon  to  use  against 
environing  conditions,  a  new  conquest  must  be  made  over 
nature,  and  the  idea  back  of  the  achievement  must  be- 
come famihar  at  least  to  the  thinkers  of  the  group  and 
preferably  to  the  masses.  Then,  as  the  newer  ideas  of 
achievement  sink  into  the  common  consciousness  through 
education  and  social  imitation,  men  begin  to  see  that 
their  interests  and  happiness  are  plainly  involved.  From 
that  time  forth  they  respond  easily  and  naturally  to  the 
stimulus  of  the  situation  and  a  higher  stage  of  civiliza- 
tion is  ushered  in. 

Static  Civilization. — As  such  great  crises  as  these 
are  few  in  number,  society  as  a  rule  is  seemingly  static, 
not  dynamic.  In  other  words,  men  easily  incline  to- 
wards conserv^atism,  even  though  they  have  in  themselves 
the  potential  capacity  to  become  radical.  In  static  civili- 
zation they  are  nurtured  and  trained  in  the  habits  and  cus- 
toms of  their  ancestors,  they  use  the  same  tools  and 
weapons,  are  familiar  with  the  same  institutions,  and  hold 
the  same  beliefs.  Some  changes  may  creep  in  during  the 
course  of  a  generation  but  they  are  relatively  few  and 
comparatively  insignificant  in  amount.  The  aged,  being 
more  experienced  and  wiser  than  the  young,  are  revered 
and  honored  as  rulers  and  priests  and  stability  marks 
the  entire  social  organization.  But  when  through  some 
important  modification  in  conditions  such  as  the  war- 
ring impact  of  a  different  and  aggressive  civilization,  a 
dynamic  age  arrives,  then  change  and  instability  are  the 
order  of  the  day.  The  old,  by  assumption,  becomes  in- 
ferior, and  the  new  is  theoretically  best ;  customs  and  be- 
liefs change;  conservatism,  once  the  bulwark  of  static 
civilization,  becomes  a  handicap  to  progress;  the  aged 
who  modify  their  ideas  and  beliefs  less  readily  than  the 


170  SOCIOLOGY 

young  are  rejected,  and  the  "dead  line"  creeps  into  the 
industries  and  professions.  Men's  hearts  fail  them  as 
they  see  familiar  landmarks  go  one  by  one,  and  they 
struggle  desperately  to  hold  on  to  what  once  seemed 
good  and  right.  This  resistance  acts  as  a  sort  of  check 
to  innovation,  the  energy  of  the  assimilating  movement 
begins  to  spend  itself;  slowly  and  gradually  the  old  and 
the  new  harmonize,  part  of  each  is  rejected.  The  old 
institutions  still  exist,  but  in  modified  form,  and  the  newer 
system  in  a  generation  or  two  becomes  the  accustomed; 
static  conditions  once  more  develop,  and  stability  again 
characterizes  the  age. 

Static  Contrasted  with  Dynamic  Civilization. — 
This  distinction  between  static  and  dynamic  civilization 
is  important,  and  further  explanation  may  make  the  con- 
trast clear.  If  in  a  given  society  the  fundamental  condi- 
tions of  life  are  practically  fixed,  and  the  interests  for 
which  men  strive  are  virtually  uniform,  a  static  civiliza- 
tion develops.  This  does  not  imply  that  no  changes  are 
taking  place.  Conditions  are  never  entirely  fixed,  and  the 
interests  for  which  men  strive  are  never  fully  harmo- 
nious, yet  as  long  as  the  changes  in  conditions  are  slow 
and  infinitesimal,  and  as  long  as  the  interests  striven 
for  remain  practically  the  same,  one  may  assume  that 
to  all  intents  and  purposes  the  institutions  and  ideals 
of  society  are  static.  The  institutions  are  slowly  chang- 
ing, the  ideals  imperceptibly  altering,  but  no  generation 
is  conscious  of  any  break  with  its  predecessors,  and  it 
is  only  when  centuries  have  elapsed  that  one  can  see 
distinctions  between  the  old  and  the  new. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  dynamic  civilization  is  always  pre- 
ceded by  some  profound  change  in  the  physical  or  eco- 
nomic environment,  with  its  resultant  changes  in  cultural 


ACHIEVEMENT  AND  CIVILIZATION  171 

environment.  Through  war  or  migration  racial  stocks 
and  civiHzation  may  be  brought  into  forced  union,  and 
a  dynamic  condition  exists  until  assimilation  and  amalga- 
mation take  place.  A  pastoral  people  may  through  ne- 
cessity be  compelled  to  turn  to  agriculture,  or  an  agri- 
cultural people  to  mining  or  to  commerce,  or  a  commer- 
cial people  to  manufactures,  and  the  period  of  transition 
is  dynamic.  Dormant  energy  bursts  forth  as  illustrated 
by  Saracenic  ^  and  Japanese  ^  civilizations,  and  movement 
take"^  place  until  the  conflicting  modes  of  life  come  into 
equilibrium,  are  harmonized,  and  static  peace  resumes 
its  importance.  Or  again,  scientific  discovery  may  un- 
settle a  static  civilization  by  introducing  new  factors  of 
fundamental  importance,  such  as  the  invention  of  print- 
ing or  gunpowder,  of  the  steam  engine  or  the  cotton  gin, 
or  the  use  of  electricity  as  power.  Rapid  transportation 
and  the  telegraph  to-day  bring  human  civilizations  into 
contact  as  never  before.  The  scholarship  and  science  of 
any  part  of  the  world  readily  become  the  common  heri- 
tage of  all  scholars.  Inventions  and  manufactures  pass 
freely  into  all  parts  of  the  earth ;  western  civilization 
forces  itself  upon  the  attention  of  the  East,  which  tries 
in  vain  to  close  its  doors  against  such  unsettling  influ- 
ences. In  consequence,  old-fashioned  economic  systems 
have  to  undergo  revisions;  governments  of  the  autocratic 
or  monarchic  type  are  rejected  in  favor  of  democratic, 
constitutional  forms  of  government;  systems  of  educa- 
tion become  antiquated  within  a  generation;  time-hon- 
ored religious  dogmas  and  symbols  lose  their  hold  on 
human  imagination ;  and  the  sciences  become  inductive  in 

*  During    the    centuries    immediately    following    the    Hegira    of 
Mohammed,  622  A.D. 
'  Since  1868. 


172  SOCIOLOGY 

their  methods  and  cheerfully  modify  their  teachings  on 
fair  proof  of  error. 

Unquestionably  as  the  result  of  the  world  war  such 
dynamic  conditions,  accompanied  by  other  wars  and 
revolutions,  will  prevail  far  into  this  century,  but  little  by 
little,  here  and  there,  conflicting  interests  will  harmo- 
nize; new  generations  will  arise  not  versed  in  old  tradi- 
tions and  accustomed  to  the  new;  intense  radicalism  and 
ultra-conservatism  will  both  die  away;  the  conventional 
once  more  will  have  importance,  and  progress  will  be  at 
its  ebb  until  new  discoveries,  new  changes  in  conditions 
will  once  again  bring  in  a  flood  tide  of  civilization  with 
dynamic  changes  in  social  institutions.  As  long  as  physi- 
cal and  economic  changes  allow  a  larger  development  in 
dormant  capacity,  and  by  competition  bring  about  an 
elimination  of  the  weaker  or  falser  elements  of  civiliza- 
tion, progress  is  assured,  and  humanity  will  move  for- 
ward from  achievement  tO'  achievement  toward  the  goal 
of  a  more  perfect  civilization.  Should,  however,  in  any 
part  of  the  earth  the  reverse  prove  true,  civilization 
would  there  slowly  deteriorate,  that  nation  would  fall, 
having  had  its  day,  and  worthier  rivals  would  take  its 
place. 

National  Progress. — Nations  rise  and  fall,  not  in 
proportion  to  years  but  rather  as  they  understand  or  fail 
to  understand  the  conditions  of  survival*  and  of  national 
achievement.  A  nation  as  a  whole,  through  knowledge, 
should  understand  so  well  the  conditions  of  progress, 
that  instead  of  a  genetic  development,  with  its  ebb  tides 
and  floods,  its  times  of  transition  and  doubt,  it  may  be 
able  to  work  out  progress  with  forethought  and  scientific 
precision.  It  should  have  in  mind  a  clear  perception  of 
national  ideals  and  possibilities,  a  clear  knowledge  of  the 


ACHIEVEMENT  AND  CIVILIZATION  173 

best  methods  of  attaining  such  ends,  and  by  adopting  a 
careful  and  methodical  policy  it  should  move  steadily 
towards  the  attainment  of  its  purposes,  just  as  a  captain 
guides  his  vessel  across  the  Atlantic.  The  science  of 
sociology  is  convinced  that  such  a  telic  policy  is  even  now 
feasible,  and  aims  to  show  the  way,  so  that  man  may 
come  into  his  inheritance  by  becoming  in  large  measure 
the  arbiter  of  his  own  destiny  on  earth. 

The  Material  as  a  Basis  for  the  Cultural. — If  it  be 
true  that  cultural  civilization  depends  for  its  growth 
on  material  civilization,  it  is  an  added  argument  why 
society  should  pay  especial  attention  to  the  develop- 
ment of  an  excellent  economic  system  based  on  science 
and  invention.  The  truth  of  this  theory  is  perhaps  not 
immediately  obvious,  especially  to  those  who  have  been 
taught  to  look  with  contempt  on  economic  struggle,  or  to 
those  whose  ideal  is  one  of  "plain  living  and  high  think- 
ing." The  doctrine  of  the  simple  life  is  an  individualistic 
teaching,  inapplicable  to  society  as  a  whole.  The  Emer- 
sons  and  Thoreaus,  the  Tolstois  and  Wagners  may  de- 
velop culturally  under  this  regime,  stimulated  as  they 
are  by  the  intense  and  complex  civilization  around  them. 
But  if  these  philosophers  were  to  persuade  all  men  to  live 
the  simple  life  and  to  neglect  economic  achievement, 
the  culture  of  the  group  would  inevitably  become  as 
simple  as  the  contents  of  their  larders. 

For,  if  a  social  group  is  living  under  low  economic  con- 
ditions, vigorous  bodily  and  mental  capacity  become  well- 
nigh  impossible.  A  half-starved  body  necessitates  a  mind 
concentrated  solely  on  food  getting.  Culture  and  the 
higher  life  have  no  large  part  in  such  civilization.  Spiri- 
tual and  aesthetic  joys  and  high  moral  standards  have  no 
meaning  to  a  group  whose  only  ambition  is  to  satisfy 


174  SOCIOLOGY 

the  cravings  of  hunger  and  to  rest  from  unremitting 
toil.  This  is  as  true  in  high  civiHzation  as  in  lowest 
civilization,  since  even  there  the  elite  are  counterbalanced 
by  the  "submerged  tenth"  and  by  the  other  two-tenths 
that  are  in  constant  danger  of  pauperism.  These  low 
economic  groups  are  practically  determined  by  their  inev- 
itably degraded  social  environment,  and,  as  a  class, 
cannot  under  such  conditions  by  any  possibility  develop 
high  culture  or  mental  capacity. 

If,  however,  the  rigors  of  the  situation  are  somewhat 
mitigated,  so  that  there  are  occasional  periods  of  abun- 
dant food  supply  and  stimulating  economic  conditions, 
the  group  as  a  whole,  and  especially  the  superior  individ- 
uals within  it,  released  from  the  strain  of  the  struggle 
for  daily  food,  can,  with  the  expansion  of  dormant  capac- 
ities, make  cultural  achievements.  If,  as  another  illus- 
tration, the  group  becomes  a  leisure  class,  released  from 
the  strain  of  economic  competition  and  able  largely  to 
determine  its  own  social  environment,  obviously  the 
probability  of  cultural  and  psychical  development  will 
increase  proportionately.  Although  many,  unquestion- 
ably would  sink  under  such  conditions  into  degradation 
through  idleness  and  dissipation,  others  would  make  use 
of  their  opportunity  to  devote  their  energies  to  cultural 
achievement.  On  the  other  hand,  if  a  leisure  class 
through  war  or  other  disaster  sank  back  in  the  economic 
scale  to  the  extreme  of  penury,  with  no  hope  of  recovery, 
a  generation  or  two  would  see  the  loss  of  its  high  attain- 
ment, and  a  return  to  the  groveling  standards  of  the 
rudest  group  life. 

One  may,  therefore,  assert  that  a  group  subjected  to 
a  wretched  physical  environment  is  determined  by  it  and 
has  no  possibility,  under  the  conditions,  of  developing 


ACHIEVEMENT  AND  CIVILIZATION  175 

either  higher  economic  or  cultural  civilization.  If,  how- 
ever, physical  environment  improves,  the  bettered  con- 
dition of  the  group  allows  the  possibility  of  economic 
and  cultural  achievement.  Favorable  physical  condi- 
tions and  development  in  economic  and  cultural  capac- 
ity would  give  probability  of  increasingly  higher  eco- 
nomic and  cultural  development,  so  that  the  plane  of 
civilization  rises  as  the  planes  of  physical,  economic,  and 
cultural  conditions  rise. 

The  Relation  of  the  Group  to  the  Individual. — It 
must,  of  course,  be  kept  in  mind  that  these  statements 
apply  to  groups  as  such,  not  to  every  individual  in  them. 
A  depressed  group  will  have  a  low  cultural  attainment, 
even  though,  through  variation  in  heredity  or  accidental 
education  opportunities,  there  be  an  occasional  individ- 
ual who  rises  above  the  attainment  of  the  group.  So 
likewise  a  leisure  class  has  opportunity  to  develop  high 
culture,  although  individuals  of  it  neglect  the  opportuni- 
ties afforded  them,  and  fall  in  attainment  far  below  the 
exceptional  individuals  from  the  lowest  classes.  The 
failure  of  a  person  to  take  advantage  of  his  opportunities 
for  cultural  attainment  may  be  due  to  a  lack  of  a  family 
tradition  of  culture,  to  the  depressing  influence  of  vulgar 
or  depraved  companionship,  or  to  the  ease  of  satisfying 
bodily  appetites  compared  with  the  difficulty  of  cultivat- 
ing and  gratifying  higher  emotions.  The  physical  is 
suited  to  natural  instinct,  the  cultural  is  the  product  of 
idealism  and  intellectual  choice,  hence  in  culture  as  in 
cultural  religion  "many  are  called  but  few  are  chosen." 
Or,  again,  individuals  within  a  group  may  devote  them- 
selves so  vigorously  to  the  amassing  of  wealth  that  so  far 
from  gaining  culture,  they  may  lose  what  little  cultural 
attainment  they  possessed.    Nevertheless,  their  economic 


176  SOCIOLOGY 

achievements  still  remain  in  the  possession  of  the  com- 
munity; their  legatees  or  society  as  a  whole  reap  the 
benefit  of  their  labors;  and  somewhere  at  least  there  is 
the  enjoyment  of  higher  culture  through  their  exertions. 

Class  Distinctions  in  Culture. — The  theory,  further- 
more, does  not  assert  that  if  national  economic  condi- 
tions are  favorable,  cultural  civilization  for  the  entire 
national  group  is  inevitable.  It  merely  asserts  that  nar 
tional  conditions  will  be  favorable  for  cultural  develop- 
ment. If,  however,  the  national  group  is  divided  into 
castes  or  classes,  one  of  which  monopolizes  the  advan- 
tages derived  from  favorable  economic*  conditions,  that 
class  has  the  opportunity  for  cultural  development,  but 
not  the  others.  Each  sharply  defined  class  or  caste  tends 
to  develop  its  own  degree  of  cultural  attainment,  whether 
this  be  high  or  low.  If  caste  distinctions  are  maintained 
by  law  and  custom,  each  class  will  retain  its  own  culture 
without  mixture.  If,  however,  there  is  no  such  sepa- 
ration, and  the  classes  meet  in  some  of  the  relationships 
of  social  life,  there  will  be  a  superficial  mingling  of  cul- 
tures, which,  however,  will  never  be  complete  as  long  as 
economic  differences  remain.  Thus,  house  servants  or 
slaves  readily  absorb  by  social  imitation  some  of  the 
culture  and  manners  of  their  masters,  and  these  in  their 
turn,  cared  for  as  children  by  their  social  inferiors,  im- 
bibe coarser  traits.  In  some  such  manner  the  courtesy 
of  mediaeval  chivalry  passed  to  Romance  peasantry,  as 
may  still  be  seen  in  the  natural  politeness  and  dignity  of 
the  lower  economic  classes  in  Latin  Europe. 

The  Growth  of  Talent  and  Genius. — On  the  other 
hand,  it  should  not  be  assumed  that  all  the  members  of  a 
group  are  necessarily  on  a  par.  It  goes  without  saying 
that  some  are  more  talented  than  others.     In  any  group 


ACHIEVEMENT  AND  CIVILIZATION  177 

there  will  be  geniuses  and  men  of  capacity,  and  others 
again  who  are  ordinary  or  even  below  the  average  in 
mentality.  The  laws  of  heredity  are  not  yet  so  clearly 
understood  as  to  enable  society  to  declare  dogmatically 
in  what  part  of  its  membership  genius  and  talent  may  be 
expected  to  develop.  That  knowledge  may  possibly  come 
through  biological  and  psychological  investigations  in 
later  generations.  Meanwhile  it  is  safe  to  assume  that 
greatness  under  proper  conditions  may  be  expected  from 
the  lower  as  well  as  from  the  higher  social  classes.  So- 
ciety must,  therefore,  see*  to  it  that  the  benefits  resulting 
from  economic  achievement  be  as  widely  distributed  as 
possible.  Under  genetic  civilization  they  readily  become 
the  monopoly  of  a  few,  but  under  telic  civilization  society 
would  make  this  impossible.  The  genius  of  great  finan- 
ciers, merchants,  manufacturers,  and  the  managers  of 
large  systems  of  transportation  has  never  been  adequately 
recognized  by  society,  which  has  been  too  prone  to  pay 
to  the  warrior  or  the  priest  the  homage  really  due  to  the 
financier  and  the  merchant  who  made  possible  the  success 
of  the  others."^  These  achievers  in  the  economic  world, 
with  all  their  shortcomings,  represent  a  factor  in  society 
with  claims  comparable  to  those  of  scientific  invention 
or  industrial  skill.  Their  reward,  however,  should  not 
be  in  a  permission  to  monopolize  the  profits  of  industry, 
but  in  well-earned  dignities  and  honors  such  as  only  so- 
ciety can  give.  The  benefits  from  their  financial  exer- 
tions, which  would  be  fruitless  without  the  cooperation 
of  their  employees  and  of  civic  agencies,  should  be  shared 
alike  by  all  according  to  the  social  utility  of  each.  So- 
ciety, on  the  basis  of  its  natural  resources,  needs  as  a 

'Note  the  interesting  series  by  Elbert  Hubbard  for  1909,  entitled 
Little  Journeys  to  the  Homes  of  Great  Business  Men. 


178  SOCIOLOGY 

foundation  on  which  to  erect  the  edifice  of  cultural  civi- 
lization, the  combined  capacities  of  worker,  manager, 
scientist,  and  inventor.  Given  these,  wisely  fostered, 
carefully  regulated  and  safeguarded,  as  necessity  de- 
mands, there  need  be  no  further  anxiety  in  respect  to  cul- 
tural civilization,  for  it  would  develop  easily  and  rapidly. 

Social  Importance  of  Cultural  Civilization. — What 
then  is  the  social  problem  in  respect  to  cultural  civiliza- 
tion? The  answer  can  perhaps  be  more  readily  seen  if 
one  has  clearly  in  mind  just  what  is  implied  by  the  phrase 
cultural  civilization.  This  has  already  been  explained  as 
the  sum  total  of  all  society's  religious,  moral,  aesthetic, 
and  intellectual  achievements.  But  these  achievements 
are  not  tangible,  material  things,  but  are  felt,  desired, 
sought  for,  and  perceived  by  minds  arising  from  a  deli- 
cately organized  nervous  system  and  a  physical  brain 
strongly  convoluted  and  strengthened  by  centuries  of 
ancestral  thinking.  Plainly  society  cannot  make  such 
organisms,  as  it  might  order  a  cannon  or  a  ship.  All  that 
can  be  done  is,  on  the  assumption  that  its  racial  stock 
contains  such  quality,  to  arrange  the  conditions  of  life 
so  that  that  kind  of  brain  may  have  an  opportunity  for 
training  and  expression.  If  one  assumes  the  truth  of  the 
Platonic  idea  that  such  capacity  is  not  restricted  to  the 
privileged  classes  only,  but  is  latent  among  the  mass  of 
the  population  and  may  be  developed  under  proper  condi- 
tions, then  evidently  society  should  endeavor  to  ascer- 
tain who  are  those  in  its  population  that  have  capacity 
and  talent  for  moral,  aesthetic,  and  intellectual  attain- 
ment. 

Social  Demand  for  Talent  and  Genius. — There  are 
especial  reasons  why  this  should  be  done.  In  the  first 
place  economic  attainment  is  itself  dependent  on  the  de- 


ACHIEVEMENT  AND  CIVILIZATION  179 

velopment  of  a  certain  amount  of  culture.  Honesty  and 
moral  uprightness  are  essential  to  business  success,  but 
the  keenness  of  economic  competition  naturally  tends  to 
lower  moral  standards,  and  there  is  need  always  of  an 
infusion  of  higher  morality  from  the  cultural  world,  so 
as  to  keep  economic  attainment  on  a  high  grade.  The 
farsighted  manager  sees  that  competition  is  best  met 
by  honesty,  supplemented  by  an  infinite  attention  to  the 
elimination  of  waste,  the  perfection  of  organization,  the 
utilization  of  labor-saving  inventions,  and  a  body  of 
employees  who  work  because  of  the  interest  they  have  in 
the  business  and  not  merely  for  wages.  No  nation  can 
maintain  supremacy  in  the  economic  world  until  high 
morals  dominate  its  economic  life.  The  trickery  and 
double  dealing  so  common  in  petty  business  becomes  un- 
profitable in  a  larger  industrial  sphere.  There  is  needed 
in  economic  life  an  appreciation  of  the  artistic  if  only 
to  enlarge  the  demand  for  finer  grades  of  goods.  The 
words  cheap  and  ugly  are  almost  synonymous,  and  what 
they  stand  for  belongs  to  a  low  economic  order.  Eco- 
nomic achievements  themselves  readily  become  artistic, 
for  there  is  a  close  relationship  between  the  brain  that 
can  invent  a  machine  and  that  which  can  fashion  a  statue. 
In  the  same  way  an  economic  civilization  can  never  at- 
tain its  height  unless  the  scientist  and  the  philosopher 
cooperate.  The  head  of  a  great  business  must  have 
vision,  he  must  be  a  prophet,  a  scientist,  and  a  philosopher 
by  intuition ;  he  must  foresee  the  conditions  of  the  mar- 
ket, accurately  judge  human  motives  and  character,  com- 
prehend the  significance  of  inventions  and  scientific  dis- 
coveries; and  he  must  view  the  parts  of  his  establishment 
as  a  whole  and  in  its  relations  to  other  departments  of 
economic  activity.     As  its  economic  life  broadens,  there- 


i8o  SOCIOLOGY 

fore,  a  country  must  develop  culture  and  cultural  edu- 
cation, and  must  use  in  its  business  the  most  capable  men 
turned  out  by  the  colleges,  by  offering  such  men  the  stim- 
ulus of  high  pecuniary  reward  and  an  opportunity  to 
feel  that  they  are  making  a  contribution  to  national  prog- 
ress. 

Need  of  Cultural  Ideals. — There  is  another  reason 
why  society  must  assist  to  birth  cultural  civilization.  The 
most  serious  handicaps  to  social  development  arise  from 
poor  physique  and  low  ideals.  The  sin,  vice,  and  misery 
of  life  are,  aside  from  physical  causes,  due  to  the  defec- 
tiveness and  insufficiency  of  cultural  teaching  and  ideal- 
ism.. The  stimulus  that  may  come  to  a  life  through  the 
inspiration  of  a  great  moral  or  religious  idea,  or  a  love 
for  the  beautiful  in  form,  color,  or  sound  has  a  refining 
influence  that  makes  one  abhor  the  vulgarity  of  vice.  A 
knowledge  of  scientific  truth  is  one  of  the  most  powerful 
agencies  for  the  promotion  of  morality.  The  necessity 
of  law,  and  the  inevitable  consequences  that  follow  a  vio- 
lation of  it,  teach  morality  as  no  text-book  can;  and  he 
who  can  rightly  philosophize  may  make  blunders  in  his 
life  to  be  sure,  but  has  an  inspiration  that  lifts  him  above 
the  primitive  vices,  enabling  him  to  live  a  life  of  honor 
and  nobility.  Finally,  society  should  favor  cultural  de- 
velopment, because  only  thereby  can  man  enjoy  happi- 
ness. After  all,  happiness  is  the  aim  of  life  as  philosophy 
is  the  guide  of  it.  In  primitive  savagery«eating  and  mat- 
ing made  up  the  joy  of  existence.  Then  came  the  de- 
lights of  warring  and  of  besting  one's  opponent  in  eco- 
nomic competition.  But  as  men  pass  into  higher  civiliza- 
tion, these  pleasures  pale  into  insignificance  before  the 
joy  derived  from  the  higher  emotions  and  intellectual  as- 
pirations.     Physical    and    competitive    joys    find    their 


ACHIEVEMENT  AND  CIVILIZATION  i8i 

proper  place  in  life,  but  a  society,  whose  members  can 
appreciate  the  beauty  of  a  moral,  artistic,  or  scientific 
ideal,  has  within  itself  a  happiness  that  will  inspire  the 
physical  and  the  economic  also,  and  make  even  monotonous 
work  a  pleasure.  Cultural  civilization  springs  from  the 
material,  and  in  return  it  becomes  its  most  stalwart  sup- 
porter, inspiring  a  more  abundant  economic  life  in  so- 
ciety. 


CHAPTER  XII 

CIVILIZATION   STATIC  AND  DYNAMIC 

Static  and  Dynamic  Defined. — Although  Comte 
coined  the  word  "sociology,"  yet  at  first,  and  frequently 
afterwards,  he  preferred  the  term  "social  physics,"  sub- 
dividing this  into  static  and  dynamic.  Lacking  as  he  did 
modern  knowledge  of  the  newer  biology,  developed  later 
under  Darwinian  and  evolutionary  impulses,  his  ex- 
planation of  the  distinction  between  static  and  dynamic 
has  been  modified  to  some  extent.  Under  the  former 
term  from  the  modern  standpoint  properly  should  be 
included  (i)  studies  of  social  structure,  the  social  order 
or  organization,  including,  therefore,  the  mechanism  or 
forms  of  all  social  associations  or  institutions;  and  (2) 
the  functional  activities  of  the  "social  organism,"  per- 
formed through  the  agency  of  the  social  structure  or  so- 
cial institutions.  The  notion  static,  therefore,  corre- 
sponds to  the  similar  biological  studies  of  structure  and 
function  and  includes  consequently  the  study  of  "social 
anatomy"  and  "social  physiology." 

Now  as  long  as  social  development  is  mere  growth  or 
mere  multiplication  within  a  given  type  such  development 
is  static.  Dynamic  properly  implies  changes  in  the  type 
of  structure  and  function,  through  the  processes  of  adap- 
tation to  variations  in  conditions  or  in  social  environ- 
ment. This  would  be  true  even  though  such  adaptation 
was  to  an  inferior  social  environment,  for  dynamic  may 

182 


CIVILIZATION  STATIC  AND  DYNAMIC         183 

be  backwards  as  well  as  forwards,  but  as  a  rule  ques- 
tions of  human  progress  are  under  discussion,  so  that 
for  the  most  part  dynamic  sociology  would  emphasize 
adaptation  making  for  improvement. 

Static  Civilization. — In  a  group  the  desires  of  in- 
dividuals are  never  exactly  the  same.  Individuals  differ 
in  the  number  and  in  the  intensity  of  their  desires  and 
in  the  inhibitions  or  the  stimuli  associated  with  these. 
But,  when  they  come  together  for  general  purposes,  a 
modus  Vivendi  must  arise.  They  must  consciously  or 
unconsciously  agree  on  the  joint  desire  of  the  group, 
sinking  their  individual  differences,  so  as  to  work  unitedly 
in  common  activities  through  a  common  mechanism.  In 
other  words,  the  individual  desires  are  equilibrated,  ad- 
justed to  conditions,  and  perform  work  with  a  minimum 
of  friction.  As  long  as  conditions  and  the  social  desires 
working  through  the  institution  are  stable  the  social  in- 
stitution itself  remains  unchanged,  it  is  static  and  its  ac- 
tivity becomes  customary.  As  a  matter  of  fact  there 
is  no  such  thing  in  social  life  as  complete  stability,  all 
things  are  in  flux,  moving  one  way  or  the  other,  however 
slow  may  be  the  movement,  but  the  approximations  to 
stability  are  at  times  near  enough  for  all  practical  pur- 
poses, so  that  one  may  speak  of  static  social  institutions. 
Thus,  in  a  primitive  horde  individual  food  appetites  and 
capacities  for  obtaining  foods  may  vary  widely,  accord- 
ing to  age  or  sex,  but  by  agreement  and  custom  all  who 
are  capable  secure  a  common  food  supply  and  it  is  ap- 
portioned by  rule,  whether  the  amount  of  food  be  large 
or  small.  In  this  manner  the  food  demand  of  the  group 
is  met,  although  no  one  individual  may  feel  fully  satis- 
fied with  respect  to  his  own  appetite. 

Dynamic    Changes. — On    the    other    hand,    suppose 


1 84  SOCIOLOGY 

there  is  a  change  in  conditions,  possibly  through  a  too 
rapid  increase  of  population  in  proportion  to  food  sup- 
plies. Obviously  the  static  institution  developed  for  the 
earlier  condition  must  change  or  the  group  will  perish 
from  slow  starvation.  The  food  appetite  may  unwill- 
ingly have  to  adapt  itself  to  a  vegetable  diet  in  place  of 
the  flesh  preferred.  The  members  of  the  hunting  band 
may  have  to  devote  themselves  to  war  and  forage  in 
hostile  territories,  or  the  group  may  devote  itself  to  the 
raising  of  flocks  and  herds,  or  to  agriculture.  But  this 
would  imply  a  readjustment  of  the  mechanism  and  the 
rules  and  customs  of  the  former  system.  These  changes 
would  not  be  made  in  a  day,  years  or  generations  may 
elapse  before  the  institution  is  fully  readjusted,  but  in 
due  time  the  elders  in  their  traditions  would  record  that 
far  back  in  the  memory  of  their  tribe,  their  ancestors 
had  migrated,  or  become  predatory,  or  had  developed 
the  arts  of  domestication  of  animals,  or  had  devoted 
themselves  to  agriculture,  and  henceforth  passed  from 
nomadic  existence  to  the  settled  life  of  the  village. 

This  illustration,  based  on  a  change  in  food  supplies, 
shows  also  how  closely  other  social  institutions  are  de- 
pendent on  the  fundamental  institution  of  food-getting. 
For,  a  horde  dependent  on  the  hunt  for  its  foods  neces- 
sarily is  restricted  in  membership,  since  nature  spontane- 
ously does  not  furnish  in  a  given  locality  a  continuous 
food  supply  for  a  large  population.  But  through  domes- 
tication or  agriculture,  a  much  larger  population  can  be 
supported  on  a  given  area,  so  that  a  fertile  plain  or  val- 
ley may  support  a  dense  population,  as  against  the  scat- 
tered hordes  of  a  hunting  stage.  But  a  dense  population 
necessarily  must  have  fixed  abodes,  permanent  homes, 
well  defined  communal  property  rights,  and  a  more  defi- 


CIVILIZATION  STATIC  AND  DYNAMIC         185 

nite  organization  for  government  and  for  defensive  war. 
All  this  involves  other  economic  changes,  for  specialized 
vocations  arise;  artisans,  perhaps  serfs  and  slaves,  and 
a  leisure  class  of  chiefs  charged  with  the  responsibility 
of  leadership  and  freed  from  the  daily  toil  of  industrial 
vocations.  The  rights  of  individuals  or  of  families  must 
be  defined  in  the  sharing  of  the  product  of  the  flock  and 
herd  and  in  the  use  of  land  for  purposes  of  food,  fuel, 
and  grazing.  The  family  organization  itself  must  be 
readjusted,  for  the  loose  relationship  of  the  horde  be- 
comes impossible.  Kinship  bonds  must  be  carefully  de- 
fined, so  as  to  trace  descent  and  prevent  incest;  the  re- 
spective rights  of  male  ^nd  female  in  the  family  group 
must  be  settled,  since  they  must  live  together  amicably 
in  daily  contact  in  a  family  abode ;  and  the  "blood  bond" 
must  be  emphasized  as  an  additional  reason  why  clan 
and  tribal  unity  should  be  maintained  as  a  guaranty  of 
group  safety.  Even  religion  must  change,  for  whereas  in 
nomadic  life  their  gods,  friendly  or  hostile,  were  those 
suited  to  a  wandering  and  precarious  existence,  in  the  set- 
tled life  of  the  village  the  gods  became  adjusted  to  the 
new  environment,  they  become  better  known,  their  pow- 
ers for  good  or  evil  are  carefully  estimated,  set  methods 
of  sacrifice,  propitiation,  and  worship  are  devised  and  the 
whole  system  entrusted  to  definite  persons  charged  with 
the  responsibility  of  maintaining  friendly  relations  with 
the  gods. 

Contrasts  Between  Static  and  Dynamic. — From 
these  and  other  illustrations  readily  occurring  to  the  mind 
on  reflection,  it  becomes  obvious  that  social  institutions 
may  be  studied  dynamically  as  well  as  statically.  A 
static  institution  implies  a  balance  secured  by  the  ad- 
justment of  social  desire  to  environing  conditions.    If  the 


i86  SOCIOLOGY 

adjustment  is  disturbed,  however  slightly,  readji  -.tments 
must  be  made,  though  of  course  these  may  be  W\'ll-nigh 
imperceptible  if  the  change  in  desire,  or  condition,  or  both 
is  comparatively  slight.  Still,  the  fact  that  readjustments 
are  taking  place  renders  the  situation  dynamic  rather 
than  static.  For  convenience,  however,  if  the  changes 
generation  by  generation  are  barely  perceptible  the  civi- 
lization may  be  called  static,  although,  as  already  said, 
a  really  stationary  condition  never  exists  in  fact.  On  the 
other  hand  if  the  changes  are  important,  deeply  affecting 
the  food-getting  or  economic  condition,  then  the  recog- 
nized interrelationship  of  all  other  social  institutions 
with  the  economic  implies  that  important  and  fundamen- 
tal modifications  will  take  place  in  them  also.  But,  when 
readjustments  are  complete,  if  they  do  become  complete, 
status  prevails  once  more  and  civilization  moves  on 
smoothly  in  its  accustomed  grooves. 

In  static  civilization  the  voice  of  the  past  speaks  with 
authority.  The  law  of  the  land  is  in  theory  permanent 
and  immutable  and  the  customs  are  ancient  and  long- 
standing, tracing  back  to  a  "time  whereof  the  memory  of 
man  runneth  not  to  the  contrary."  The  gods  are  well- 
known  and  for  the  most  part  friendly,  their  desires  and 
methods  of  action  are  familiar  to  their  worshipers,  and 
religious  traditions  are  accepted  without  hesitation  no 
matter  how  absurd  they  may  be  in  fact,  for  heresy  and 
innovations  are  crimes  and  free  thought  is  impiety. 
Every  man  at  birth  settles  into  the  niche  inherited  from 
his  fathers,  like  a  cog  in  a  machine  he  performs  his  al- 
lotted task  throughout  life  without  thought  of  rebellion, 
and  at  death  joins  his  ancestors  in  their  family  tomb. 
In  such  systems  we  have  the  reign  of  custom,  tradition, 
and  fixed  beliefs  and  of  set  standards  in  law  and  morals. 


CIVILIZATION  STATIC  AND  DYNAMIC  187 

The  social  status  of  the  individual  is  determined  by  the 
accident  of  his  birth,  so  that  fixed  classes  or  castes  with 
hereditary  leadership  become  inevitable.  Social  con- 
trol emanates  from  the  ruling  class  and  the  principle  of 
imitation  is  in  full  swing,  the  lower  imitating  the  higher, 
so  far  as  convention  allows.  There  is  a  certainty  and 
exactitude  in  static  life  wonderfully  satisfying  to  the 
average  man,  who  dreads  the  unknown  and  hates  the 
necessity  of  new  decisions.  As  Bagehot  put  it,  "One  of 
the  greatest  pains  to  human  nature  is  the  pain  of  a  new 
idea."  This,  however,  is  not  an  anomaly  but  natural 
for  nature,  on  the  whole,  changes  by  processes  infinites- 
imally  slow,  so  that  the  natural  man  is  inherently  con- 
servative and,  animal-like,  prefers  the  well-trodden  paths 
of  bygone  generations. 

For  such  reasons  in  sociological  discussions  the  analyt- 
ic and  static  aspects  of  sociology  have  been  studied  far 
more  than  the  synthetic,  dynamic  aspects.  This  was 
necessarily  so  when  sociology  was  under  the  influence  of 
the  newer  biology,  for  the  structural  and  the  functional 
play  so  large  a  part  in  biologic  studies  that  they  easily  as- 
sumed similar  importance  in  social  studies,  to  the  neg- 
lect of  the  social  energies  pulsating  through  society. 
Yet,  after  all,  in  the  long  run  social  movement  is  the 
really  fundamental  aspect  of  sociology  and  should  re- 
ceive the  attention  really  due  it,  even  though  one  must 
admit  that  the  static  aspect  of  life  with  its  round  of  daily 
food,  sleep,  and  petty  duties  is  all  absorbing  to  the  masses 
of  mankind.  But  as  already  indicated,  this  sort  of  thing 
is  suited  best  to  a  petty  stage  and  a  narrow  environment, 
for  with  the  broadening  of  human  contact  and  social  en- 
vironment social  groups  must  become  flexible  and  adapt- 
able.   If  they  lack  the  capacity  to  adapt  themselves  to  new 


i88  SOCIOLOGY 

conditions  and  cease  to  be  in  harmony  with  their  environ- 
ment they  run  the  risk  of  rejection  and  eHmination.  Just 
as  in  the  Darwinian  struggle  of  individuals  for  survival, 
the  number  eliminated  in  the  struggle  is  far  in  excess  of 
the  number  of  survivors,  so  in  the  social  struggle  the 
elimination  of  the  socially  unfit  is  a  most  important  factor 
in  the  process  of  survival. 

Mutual  Aid. — A  social  group,  to  be  sure,  modifies 
to  some  extent  the  competitive  struggle  among  its  mem- 
bers. There  is  "mutual  aid"  ^  within  the  group,  so  that 
under  favoring  conditions,  the  weak,  the  sickly,  and  the 
aged  may  survive  much  longer  than  normally  would  be 
the  case.  Yet  the  maintenance  of  the  weak  is  to  some 
degree  an  economic  handicap  on  the  group,  what  gain 
there  is  comes  through  the  growth  of  kindly  sympathy 
and  altruistic  activity.  But,  when  conditions  are  ad- 
verse, there  is  a  limit  beyond  which  support  cannot  be 
given,  so  that  in  times  of  stress,  such  as 'those  occasioned 
by  famine,  pestilence,  and  war,  there  is  a  tendency  to  re- 
vert to  former  conditions,  so  as  to  ensure  if  possible  the 
survival  of  the  group  by  the  sacrifice  of  children  and 
weaklings.  Civilization,  extending  even  to  present  times 
for  a  large  part  of  humanity,  has  never  been  able  to  cope 
adequately  with  famine  and  pestilence,  and  since  war  has 
been  chronic  for  thousands  of  years  there  has  been  a 
continuous  elimination  of  those  groups  that  in  competi- 
tion with  other  groups  proved  to  be  inferior,  whether  in 
bravery,  energy,  or  achievement.  Extermination,  slavery, 
or  serfdom  became  their  lot,  so  that  opportunity  for  ad- 
vancement was  no  longer  theirs.  On  the  other  hand, 
conquering  groups  had  to  maintain  their  leadership  by 
continued  attainment  or  else  they  also  in  turn  became 
*  See  Kropotkin,  in  Bibliography, 


CIVILIZATION  STATIC  AND  DYNAMIC          189 

the  conquered  and  lost  the  initiative  in  the  struggle  for 
existence. 

Periods  of  Transition. — It  must  be  obvious  that  in  a 
dynamic  civilization  like  that  of  the  Twentieth  Century, 
important  changes  in  conditions  may  come  rapidly,  to- 
gether, or  one  after  the  other,  in  which  case  the  process 
of  readjustment  becomes  exceedingly  complex,  as  illus- 
trated by  the  wave  circles  of  a  pond  whose  surface  is 
disturbed  by  numerous  stones  thrown  in  at  intervals  and 
in  different  parts  of  the  surface.  At  such  a  period  all 
institutions  seem  to  be  unsettled,  nothing  remains  fixed 
or  stable,  ancient  traditions,  beliefs,  and  customs  are 
discredited,  yet  at  the  same  time  the  new  is  looked  on 
with  suspicion.  These  are  always  danger  periods  for 
social  groups  and  nations,  since  each,  through  inability 
to  get  its  bearings,  may  reach  wrong  conclusions  and  lose 
opportunity  for  progress.  Yet  if  wise  leadership  comes 
to  the  front,  and  public  opinion  is  plastic  and  intelligent, 
the  crisis  passes,  new  standards  are  attained,  the  old  be- 
comes adjusted  to  the  new,  and  the  next  generation  in- 
herits the  tradition  and  custom  of  the  readjustment  and 
feels  at  home  under  the  reorganized  institutions  of  social 
Hfe. 

The  implications  from  this  explanation  are  presum- 
ably clear.  The  student  of  social  institutions  must  care- 
fully observe  the  changing  environing  conditions  of  so- 
ciety, the  group,  or  the  nation;  he  must  seek  to  see  how 
social  forces  should  be  readjusted  through  the  education 
of  public  opinion,  so  as  to  suit  the  newer  conditions;  and 
he  should  seek  to  understand  the  processes  of  the  changes 
taking  place  in  social  activities,  so  as  to  aid  in  the  modi- 
fication of  the  mechanism  through  which  social  activity 
works.     Obviously  also  he  should  never  expect  that  the 


190  SOCIOLOGY 

resultant  of  changes  will  be  a  return  to  status  quo.  He 
should  "let  the  dead  past  bury  its  dead,"  and  in  Socratic 
illustration  he  should  like  a  midwife  assist  to  bring  to  its 
birth  the  newer  age  that  rightly  follows  dynamic  changes. 
In  the  great  world  war,  for  example,  as  each  nation  en- 
tered the  conflict,  rapid  readjustments  had  to  be  made  in 
its  conditions,  its  attitude  of  mind,  and  its  mechanism 
for  war  and  food-getting  activities.  The  more  wise  the 
readjustment,  the  more  vigorous  and  telling  the  activity, 
but  obviously  the  final  readjustment,  with  returning 
peace,  cannot  be  a  return  to  ante  helium  conditions,  since 
each,  and  the  world  as  a  whole,  has  to  readjust  itself  to 
the  handicaps  and  losses  inevitable  from  such  a  crisis 
in  world  history  and  to  formulate  new  international 
policies,  according  as  victory  or  defeat  was  its  portion. 

Economic  Basis  of  Changes. — In  the  illustrations 
given,  stress  has  been  placed  on  economic  changes  as  de- 
terminant of  changing  social  institutions.  As  the  fun- 
damental social  institution  on  which  the  others  finally 
depend  this  stress  on  economic  relationship  has  its  justi- 
fication. Every  important  change  in  the  process  of  se- 
curing foods  or  wealth,  will  inevitably  effect  correspond- 
ing changes  in  the  other  institutions,  and  to  that  extent 
there  is  truth  in  the  teaching  in  respect  to  the  economic 
interpretation  of  history.  If,  therefore,  there  are  eco- 
nomic changes  that  are  plainly  improvements  over  the 
older  system,  such,  for  example,  as  developments  of  new 
supplies  of  foods,  as  when  animals  were  domesticated  or 
the  art  of  agriculture  acquired,  or  new  inventions  like 
the  machinery  of  modern  farming  operations,  the  adop- 
tion and  general  use  of  these  newer  economic  devices 
should  correspondingly  cause  improvement  in  other  so- 
cial institutions ;  for  larger  food  supplies,  newer  supplies 


CIVILIZATION  STATIC  AND  DYNAMIC  191 

of  metals,  the  inventions  and  discoveries  of  science,  all 
should  have  the  effect  of  removing  the  society  benefiting 
by  them  farther  from  a  "pain  economy,"  towards  greater 
comfort  of  life,  a  larger  period  of  leisure,  and,  through 
better  conditions  of  living,  a  greater  supply  of  physical, 
mental,  and  social  energy,  which  may  be  directed  towards 
achievements  in  morals  and  the  fine  arts  and  in  science 
and  philosophy.  Every  vigorous  increase,  therefore,  in 
a  nation's  food  supply  or  in  its  wealth  should  automatic- 
ally and  spontaneously  result  in  an  increase  of  cultural 
activities  and  a  movement  towards  a  "pleasure  economy." 
On  the  other  hand,  a  worsening  of  economic  conditions 
would  correspondingly  depress  the  standards  of  the  other 
social  institutions,  so  often  illustrated  in  the  "decay  of 
nations"  after  repeated  defeats  in  war. 

Other  Factors  in  Change. — It  would,  however,  be 
wrong  to  assume,  as  has  been  done  at  times,  that  economic 
conditions  absolutely  determine  social  life.  They  tend 
to  determine  it,  and  do  unquestionably  powerfully  mod- 
ify it,  but  there  are  some  limitations  that  need  to  be  kept 
in  mind.  The  economic  benefits  of  changes,  for  example, 
may  be  monopolized  by  a  small  per  cent  of  the  popula- 
tion, a  nobility  or  a  capitalistic  class,  as  under  the  laissez- 
faire  regime  of  England  in  the  Nineteenth  Century.  The 
very  advantages  these  acquire  may  be  used  to  depress  eco- 
nomically the  masses  of  the  population,  so  that  the  aver- 
age condition  of  the  group  may  be  worse  than  before.  A 
homely  illustration  of  this  may  often  be  observed  in  farm- 
ing communities,  where  a  fanner's  profits  are  not  always 
expended  in  adding  to  the  comfort  and  happiness  of  the 
family,  but  are  used  to  make  additional  purchases  of  land 
involving  additional  burdens.  Obviously,  therefore,  a 
social  group  or  a  nation  should  see  to  it  that  the  economic 


192  SOCIOLOGY 

benefits  of  new  inventions  or  discoveries  are  not  monop- 
olized by  the  few  but  are  shared  by  all.  This,  however, 
involves  many  difficulties.  The  possessors  of  power  nat- 
urally secure  additional  power  if  possible  and  are  not  in- 
clined to  share  it  altruistically  with  the  less  powerful  part 
of  the  population.  Social  institutions  are  rigid,  hard  to 
change,  and  hence  they  do  not  readily  respond  to  newer 
conditions.  Then  too  there  is  rarely  enough  intelligence 
to  see  the  newer  demands  and  social  energy  sufficiently 
to  insist  on  readjustments  in  an  equitable  manner.  Thus, 
in  any  period  of  economic  change,  it  is  not  sufficient  to 
note  the  change  itself,  but  one  must  also  take  into  account 
the  ambitions  of  the  few;  the  inertia  and  ignorance  of 
the  many;  the  rigidity  of  custom,  tradition,  belief,  and 
social  institution;  and  the  difficulty  of  getting  an  intelli- 
gent public  opinion  aroused  early  enough  to  insist  on  a 
fair  method  of  social  adjustment.  A  benevolent  despot 
might  do  it  of  his  own  accord  or  an  altruistic  nobility  or 
capitalist  class,  but  it  is  far  safer  to  assume  that  despots 
are  rarely  benevolent  and  privileged  classes  never  altruis- 
tic. In  the  long  run,  general  intelligence  in  all  classes  and 
in  both  sexes  is  the  only  real  basis  for  an  attempt  to  so- 
cialize the  achievements  of  an  energetic  civilization. 

Human  Inherent  Capacities. — The  historic  social 
struggle  of  groups,  races,  and  nations  shows  clearly  how 
a  static  changes  to  a  dynamic  civilization  and  also  what 
factors  are  likely  to  determine  progress.  By  heredity 
every  man,  and  consequently  every  social  group,  has  in- 
herently innumerable  capacities  for  development  await- 
ing opportunity  for  expression.  Whenever,  therefore, 
the  environment,  physical  or  social,  proves  stimulating  to 
what  may  be  called  socially  progressive  capacities,  there 
should  come  a  development  that  will  result  in  social  move- 


CIVILIZATION  STATIC  AND  DYNAMIC         193 

ment  or  progress.  In  biological  theory  the  most  primi- 
tive savage  had  in  him  latent  potentialities  that  in  due 
time  through  variation,  mutation,  and  selection  will  cul- 
minate in  the  highly  civilized  man  of  the  dim  distant 
future.  If  in  any  given  social  group  those  in  social  con- 
trol were  wisely  intelligent  enough  to  surround  the  rising 
generation  with  a  social  environment  best  suited  to  its 
capacities,  there  would  come  a  development  of  talent  and 
energy  ample  to  push  higher  the  standards  of  that  civili- 
zation. Unfortunately,  in  human  history  the  wise  were 
either  not  in  control,  or  if  in  control  they  lacked  the  con- 
ditions necessary-  for  efficient  guidance,  so  that  human  so- 
ciety had  still  to  await  the  time  when  progress  may  be 
made  systematically. 

If  progress,  however,  could  not  formerly  come  through 
foresight  it  is  possible  to  make  a  slower  progress  by 
"hindsight,"  though  with  many  a  backward  slip  and  with 
ebbs  as  wtII  as  flows.  This  involves  a  reliance  on  experi- 
ence, personal  or  social.  Our  familiar  saying,  "Experi- 
ence is  the  best  teacher,"  or  "history  teaches  that  ..." 
illustrate  the  idea.  Of  course,  past  experience  is  chiefly 
a  series  of  blunders,  false  beliefs,  and  opinions,  but  the 
presumption  is  that  one  may  impartially  survey  the  past 
and  decide  what  should  have  been  the  right  path  in  the 
maze  of  aimless  wandering.  Obviously  the  decision  is 
usually  a  guess,  more  likely  to  be  wrong  than  right,  and 
in  any  case  a  policy  that  would  have  been  right  under  for- 
mer conditions  is  not  necessarily  a  correct  one  under 
different  conditions.  As  things  have  been  in  civilization 
past  experience  was  practically  all  there  was  for  social 
guidance,  supplemented  by  occasional  supposed  revela- 
tions from  the  gods  through  prophets  and  seers  "who  had 
developed  to  some  extent  the  telic  faculty  of  foresight. 


194  SOCIOLOGY 

Four  Factors  in  Progress. — When,  however,  In 
these  more  modern  times  we  look  back  over  human  his- 
tory and  view  it  in  the  light  of  modern  theories  of  social 
progress,  it  becomes  possible  to  see  the  processes  at  work 
that  have  resulted  in  progress  and  these  will  briefly  be 
explained  under  the  four  following  headings:  amalga- 
mation, assimilation,  comprehension  of  nature,  and  op- 
portunity. 

Amalgamation. — By  amalgamation  is  meant  the  inter- 
marriage of  different  kindred  stocks  and  racial  groups, 
resulting  in  a  synthetic  group,  which  includes  in  its  hered- 
ity the  varying  character  of  the  parents.  One  of  the  old- 
est of  known  tabus  or  prohibitions  is  that  against  incest. 
Even  among  the  Australian  blacks  there  were  many  pre- 
cautions, through  the  establishment  of  marriage-totems, 
against  the  intermarriage  of  those  closely  related.  Bio- 
logically, close  inbreeding  under  uniform  conditions  of 
environment  tends  to  weakness  and  incapacity.  This  truth 
was  discovered  to  some  extent  through  social  experience, 
so  that  the  group  sought  to  prevent  the  marriage  of  near 
kin.  At  times  it  went  farther  and  by  stress  on  exogamy 
put  a  premium  on  intennarriage  outside  of  the  group, 
a  system  greatly  aided  by  capture  and  purchase  marriages. 
Intermarriage  between  members  of  the  same  stock  living 
under  widely  diff'ering  environment  seems  to  be  not  open 
to  the  same  objection,  for  the  reason  that  different  po- 
tentialities are  called  out  by  differing  environments.  Aside 
from  the  closest  inbreeding  some  maintain  that  the  in- 
cest tabu  is  chiefly  social,  not  biological,  being  developed 
so  as  to  secure  neutrality  between  the  sexes  within  the 
home  circle.  At  any  rate,  few  doubt  the  advisability  of 
oiit-hrceding ,  provided  the  parents  are  not  too  dissimilar 
in  heredity  and  social  attainment.    Intermarriage  between 


CIVILIZATION  STATIC  AND  DYNAMIC          195 

those  closely  alike  in  heredity  and  attainment  tends  to 
static  conditions;  variation  in  stock,  if  not  too  unhke, 
gives  the  promise  of  a  larger  variation  in  the  offspring, 
and  hence  a  greater  capacity  for  progress  under  a  favor- 
ing environment. 

One  of  the  great  agencies,  therefore,  in  the  progress  of 
society  is  the  intermingling  of  stocks  and  races  through 
war  and  migration.  Formerly  a  migrating  group  was 
an  armed  band  seeking  to  win  new  homes  by  the  sword 
from  those  in  possession.  If  successful,  after  a  partial 
extermination  of  the  conquered,  there  followed  amal- 
gamation. If  defeated,  the  conquered  survivors,  as  war 
captives,  in  time  mingled  their  blood  with  their  con- 
querors. This  process  has  been  going  on  for  thousands 
of  years,  so  that  existing  nations  are  in  no  case  "pure" 
in  blood,  but  represent  innumerable  amalgamations 
brought  about  through  war.  Gumplowicz,  followed  by 
Ward,^  has  shown  how  social  progress  has  come  from 
this  struggle  of  races  and  from  the  blending  into  a  com- 
pound race  of  the  potential  capacities  of  myriads  of 
widely  differing  stocks.  In  modern  days,  peaceful  mi- 
gration is  often  encouraged  by  newer  nations  in  need 
of  a  larger  population.  Though  immigrants  for  a  time 
may  live  segregated  from  the  native-born  stock,  yet  in 
due  time  amalgamation  begins  and  in  the  long  run  they 
are  absorbed  into  the  national  population,  which  hence- 
forth includes  in  its  hereditary  characters  the  contribu- 
tions made  by  its  composite  stocks. 

Assimilation. — Assimilation  is  in  essence  exactly  the 
same  as  that  discussed  under  amalgamation,  except  that 
the  "intermarriage"  is  between  varying  types,  differentia- 
tions of  cultures,  or  civilizations.     Naturally  amalgama- 

*  Pure  Sociology,  Chap.  X. 


196  SOCIOLOGY 

tion  is  followed  by  assimilation,  but  assimilation  may 
take  place  without  amalgamation.  Civilization  is  used 
as  a  comprehensive  term  including  the  social  institu- 
tions with  their  achievements,  customs,  traditions,  be- 
liefs, and  knowledge.  Each  specialized  group  has  a  civi- 
lization more  or  less  variant  from  those  of  its  near  or 
more  distant  neighbors.  When  exogamous  amalgama- 
tion takes  place  the  differing  civilizations  held  by  the 
male  and  female  slowly  blend  and  the  resultant  passes 
on  to  the  newer  generation  by  imitation.  The  resultant, 
of  course,  is  not  the  sum  total  of  the  blending  civiliza- 
tions. Part  is  eliminated  altogether,  part  survives  in 
modified  form,  and  again  there  are  "survivals"  from  each 
of  the  uniting  civilizations,  though  in  fact  these  also  will 
gradually  disappear.  Illustrations  of  this  last  sort  are 
common  enough,  like  the  many  survivals  of  heathen 
custom  and  festival  in  modern  Christianity,  or  the  sur- 
vival of  idioms  or  quaint  pronunciations  in  local  dialect. 
It  is,  however,  not  necessary  that  amalgamation  take 
place  in  order  that  there  be  assimilation.  Commerce, 
travel,  and  the  products  of  the  printing  press  are  power- 
ful factors  in  bringing  into  contact  differing  civilizations. 
Each  type,  in  so  far  as  it  differs,  is  a  series  of  sugges- 
tions to  the  others,  and  if  the  one  is  suggestible  through 
mental  flexibility  and  intelligence,  there  is  an  absorption 
of  what  seems  useful  or  attractive  in  the  others.  Differ- 
ing so  widely  as  civilizations  do  to-day,  an  intelligent 
capable  nation  can  vigorously  accelerate  its  progress  by 
noting  achievements  of  others,  not  possessed  by  itself, 
and  appropriating  these  for  its  own  purposes,  with  suit- 
able modifications.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  this  method  of 
assimilation  ih:  destined  to  be  an  increasingly  powerful 
factor  in  higher  civilization.     For  it  virtually  implies  that 


CIVILIZATION  STATIC  AND  DYNAMIC         197 

progress  is  more  likely  to  be  made  in  a  social  world  made 
up  of  nations  of  differing  civilizations,  yet  in  touch  one 
with  the  other  through  friendly  intercourse,  than  through 
a  dominant  nation  bent  on  forcing  its  type  of  Kultur 
on  other  nations,  through  the  old-fashioned  methods  of 
terrorism  and  the  sword.  As  illustrations  of  such  methods 
of  the  interchange  of  culture  may  be  noted  the  exchange 
among  the  nations  of  the  knowledge  of  scientific  dis- 
coveries, inventions,  and  mechanisms  of  all  sorts.  The 
daily  Commerce  Reports  issued  by  the  U.  S.  Department 
of  Commerce  aim  to  give  concise  statements  of  new  dis- 
coveries and  valuable  achievements  made  in  any  part  of 
the  civilized  world.  In  the  fields  of  literature,  art,  and 
philosophy  also  ideas  are  constantly  passing  over  na- 
tional boundaries,  all  tending  towards  the  slow  assimila- 
tion of  differing  civilizations  as  the  nations  are  brought 
together  in  peaceful  intercourse. 

Comprehe^ision  of  Nature. — The  thought  underlying 
the  familiar  term  "conquest  of  nature"  might  better  be 
expressed  as  comprehension  of  nature,  for  there  is  no 
notion  of  a  vindicative  struggle  between  two  opponents, 
but  rather  the  recognition  of  the  fact  that  nature  rightly 
comprehended  is  man's  best  friend  and  counselor.  An 
animal's  attitude  toward  nature  is  that  of  passivity  and 
fatalism,  because  it  fails  to  comprehend  the  law  in  nature. 
As  best  it  can  it  instinctively  conforms  to  nature's  ways 
and  demands,  but  never  dreams  of  altering  the  condi- 
tions of  its  life.  Primitive  man  in  his  early  stages  was 
also  animal,  but,  having  larger  brain  capacity  and  a  more 
complex  nervous  system,  he  was  beginning  to  have  fleet- 
ing thoughts  of  the  why  and  the  how  of  things.  In 
later  centuries  problems  of  whence  and  whither  also  oc- 
cupied his  mind  but  these  led  largely  to  philosophic  and 


198  SOCIOLOGY 

scientific  speculation,  rather  than  directly  to  the  com- 
prehension of  nature.  As  the  centuries  passed,  he  slowly 
began  to  see  that  the  nature  by  which  he  was  surrounded 
was  in  part  comprehensible  and  that  in  proportion  as  he 
understood  it  he  might  through  his  knowledge  multiply 
his  foods,  ward  off  his  enemies,  and  attain  a  leisure  that 
would  enable  him  to  banish  misery  from  his  life  to  some 
extent  and  enjoy  happiness.  Slowly  he  began  to  learn 
how  to  manipulate  wood,  stone,  and  metals,  so  as  to 
secure  tools  and  weapons;  to  understand  the  mysteries 
of  plant  life,  so  as  to  select  useful  vegetation  and  multiply 
it  through  cultivation ;  to  select  docile  animals  and  to  train 
them  as  beasts  of  burden  or  to  serve  as  food  supplies. 
Little  by  little  he  learned  the  secret  of  utilizing  flowing 
water,  moving  air,  or  the  force  of  gravitation  and  the 
blessings  of  fire  and  artificial  light.  The  mysteries  en- 
vironing sex,  birth,  old  age,  and  death  occupied  his  at- 
tention, and  each  addition  to  his  knowledge  gave  him 
larger  power  of  achievement  in  the  strengthening  of  social 
institutions.  The  ills  of  the  body,  whether  from  wounds 
or  sickness,  aroused  his  interest,  and  the  arts  of  surgery 
and  medicine  developed  in  consequence. 

In  the  same  manner  the  phenomena  of  the  heavenly 
bodies  and  of  the  earth's  atmosphere,  the  workings  of  his 
own  mind,  and  the  supernatural  beings  who  peopled  the 
unknown  world  he  believed  in — all  these  he  thought  about 
and  sought  to  comprehend.  In  these  days  we  accept  as  an 
article  of  scientific  faith  the  teaching  that  all  nature,  phys- 
ical, physiological,  psychic,  and  social  is  in  theory  com- 
prehensible, that  its  actions  are  reducible  to  law  and  prin- 
ciple, so  that  human  progress  is  not  a  thing  that  comes 
by  wish  or  by  fiat,  but  comes  pari  passu  with  our  com- 
prehension of  nature  and  its  methods.    This  is  really  what 


CIVILIZATION  STATIC  AND  DYNAMIC  199 

is  meant  by  the  all  embracing  term  "science."  It  means 
that  men  must  know  in  order  to  live  happily,  that  they 
must  see  in  order  to  foresee.  Science  is  not  merely  the 
knowledge  of  astronomy,  of  physics,  and  of  chemistry; 
it  is  also  the  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  life,  botanical, 
zoological,  human;  it  includes  a  comprehension  of  psychic 
and  social  life,  their  activities  and  their  possibilities; 
and  if  there  be  a  supernatural  life  and  supernatural  be- 
ings, it  must  ultimately  be  able  to  explain  the  relation- 
ships of  these  with  man  and  to  show  his  place  in  the 
universe.  Such  comprehensive  knowledge  is  not  merely 
for  the  whiling  away  of  idle  leisure,  but  rather  is  the 
basis  on  which  man  may  remake  his  world  for  human 
purposes,  so  far  as  that  can  be  done,  so  that  avoidable 
misery,  sin,  and  degradation  may  disappear  with  the 
passing  of  ignorance,  and  human  happiness  be  multiplied 
by  telic  applications  of  known  principles  in  the  natural 
sciences,  as  well  as  in  psychology  and  sociology. 

From  the  foregoing  the  relationship  between  the  com- 
prehension of  nature  and  social  progress  can  readily  be 
seen.  The  comprehension  of  nature  implies  efifort,  hard 
study,  and  the  expenditure  of  energ}^  both  physical  and 
mental.  Applications  of  such  knowledge  imply  social 
cooperation,  intelligence,  and  the  telic  capacity  to  attain 
ends  indirectly,  through  means  often  apparently  remote 
from  the  end  sought,  yet  necessary  for  the  efficient  at- 
tainment of  purposes  in  mind.  The  results  of  efforts 
such  as  these  are  inventions,  scientific  discoveries,  im- 
provements in  social  institutions,  and,  broadly,  those 
achievements  in  moral  standards,  in  the  fine  arts,  and  in 
intellectual  pursuits,  that  unitedly  multiply  the  cultural 
or  spiritual  enjoyments  of  life  so  necessary  in  a  really 
hijrh  civilization. 


200  SOCIOLOGY 

Suitable  Opportunity. — Under  the  three  preceding 
headings  attention  has  been  given  to  the  progress  that 
may  come  through  the  multipHcation  of  inherent  potential 
capacities,  through  amalgamation,  and  the  development 
of  these  through  the  assimilation  of  differing  civilizations 
and  through  the  achievements  accomplished  by  conse- 
quence of  efforts  expended  in  many-sided  attempts  to 
comprehend  nature.  Arising  from  and  dependent  on 
these  three  there  is  a  fourth  process  that  in  a  sense  is  the 
capstone  in  the  theory  of  social  progress.  Through  amal- 
gamation and  the  law  of  survival  a  modern  human  gen- 
eration is  born  with  a  wonderfully  complex  mass  of 
potential  capacities.  Many  infants,  of  course,  by  heredity 
are  born  physical  weaklings  or  are  doomed  to  idiocy, 
feeble-mindedness,  or  some  other  form  of  mental  de- 
fectiveness, but  these  relatively  are  few  in  number.  The 
great  mass  of  mankind  are  born  normal,  or  with  such 
slight  abnormalities  that  they  are  relatively  of  small  im- 
portance. Moreover,  as  an  offset  to  the  defectives  there 
are  always  many  who  have  in  them  potential  talent  and 
genius,  and  the  possible  achievements  of  these  far  out- 
weigh the  handicap  placed  on  society  by  the  presence  of 
persons  of  inferior  heredity.  Given,  therefore,  the  great 
mass  of  human  kind,  as  things  are,  from  among  these 
a  relatively  few  may  be  brought  into  contact  with  a  stimu- 
lating social  environment  which  would  incite  effort  leading 
on  to  achievement.  Through  contact  and  effort  these  few 
take  part  in  the  progress  of  their  time  and  their  achieve- 
ments may  slowly  permeate  the  whole  mass  through  social 
imitation. 

It  is  easy  under  such  conditions  to  assume  that 
all  that  can  be  attained  has  been  attained,  and  hence 
that  social  progress  cannot  be  "speeded  up."     Yet  it  is 


CIVILIZATION  STATIC  AND  DYNAMIC         201 

certain  that  if  the  opportunity  of  contact  with  higher 
standards  had  been  presented  alike  to  all  members  of  the 
social  group  and  not  merely  to  the  favored  few,  the 
potential  capacities  latent  in  the  masses  of  men  would 
in  most  cases  have  sprung  into  development  through  the 
stimulation  of  suggestion  and  inevitably  there  would  be  a 
rapid  multiplication  of  effort,  if  wisely  directed,  in  the 
direction  of  useful  and  constructive  achievement.  At 
present,  even  in  the  best  of  national  groups,  only  a  slight 
proportion  of  the  population  have  anything  like  a  real 
opportunity,  through  social  environment  and  education, 
to  develop  their  potential  capacities  except  in  a  mediocre 
way,  and  hence  they  have  no  possibility  of  achieving, 
and  the  nation  consequently  loses  the  benefit  of  the 
achievements  they  should  have  made.  Rightly  environed 
and  trained,  every  nonnal  human  being,  male  or  female, 
might  double  or  treble  his  achieving  capacity  and  thereby 
add  to  the  sum  total  of  possible  human  happiness.  The 
fourth  process,  therefore,  in  social  progress  is  the  sys- 
tematic multiplication  of  opportunity  for  the  rising  gen- 
eration through  cultural  surroundings,  leisure,  freedom 
from  economic  worry,  and  the  stimulation  of  education, 
so  that  body  and  mind  and  social  nature  may  expand  to 
the  standards  and  ideals  of  the  social  environment  and 
become  fitted  thereby  in  turn  to  add  their  contributions 
to  the  achievements  necessary  for  social  progress. 

Thus,  a  family  ambitious  for  high  standards  must  pay 
attention  to  these  four  principles.  It  must  study  the  in- 
herent quality  of  those  in  the  family  and  of  those  who 
desire  to  enter  the  family  by  marriage.  It  must,  also, 
seek  to  come  in  contact  with  the  best  possible  social 
environment,  must  altruistically  make  its  contribution 
to  the  general  welfare,  and  must  see  to  it  that  its  younger 


202  SOCIOLOGY 

members  be  given  every  opportunity  to  develop  their 
capacities  and  to  test  their  pov^ers  in  competition  w^ith 
capable  rivals  in  achievement.  In  the  same  manner,  but 
on  a  larger  scale,  a  nation  must  carefully  study  the  racial 
quality  of  v^ould-be  immigrants,  must  seek  to  multiply 
national  and  international  contacts  of  a  high  order,  must 
aim  to  encourage  invention  and  achievement  by  proper 
legislation  and  education,  and  must  telicly  endeavor  to 
eliminate  from  the  social  environment  of  the  rising  gen- 
eration v^hatever  depresses  and  degrades.  Construc- 
tively it  must  formulate  policies,  so  as  to  multiply  op- 
portunities for  the  expression  of  these  in  achievement. 
This  is  the  so-called  gospel  of  social  opportunity  and  in 
combination  with  the  three  other  processes  discussed  it 
is  the  surest  guaranty  of  social  progress. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  CLASSIFICATION  OF  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS 

Unity  of  Social  Institutions. — Attention  has  al- 
ready been  called  to  the  distinction  between  the  civiHza- 
tion  and  the  achievement  of  animals  and  of  man.  The 
animal,  it  will  be  remembered,  accomplishes  its  results  in 
the  main  automatically  and  instinctively ;  man,  on  the 
other  hand,  achieves  through  reason  and  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  a  definite  purpose  in  the  mind.  A  similar 
distinction  should  be  made  between  the  instinctive  feelings 
and  interests  of  the  animal  and  the  reasoned  basis  for 
the  achievements  of  the  man.  All  the  higher  animals, 
including  man,  instinctively  act  under  the  stimulus  of  the 
primary  feelings  of  hunger  and  love.  The  promptings 
of  hunger  and  sexual  appetite  are  imperious  and  must  be 
satisfied  at  all  hazards  as  long  as  they  are  mere  instincts. 
But  in  man's  case,  at  least,  his  intellect  slowly  develops 
as  a  factor  in  the  situation,  and  becomes  a  guide  to  these 
primitive  impulses.  It  checks  and  regulates,  or  even 
suppresses  them  as  in  voluntary  fasting  and  celibacy,  so 
as  to  accomplish  other  conflicting  purposes  suggested  by 
the  mind.  Sociologically  speaking,  therefore,  it  is  im- 
portant to  understand  how  the  intellect  of  man  has  been 
able  to  guide  and  control  these  fundamental  feelings,  and 
how  economic  and  domestic  institutions  have  arisen  and 
developed  in  the  process.  From  these  two  primitive  and 
fundamental  human  impulses  or  desires  have  probably 

203 


204  SOCIOLOGY 

differentiated  all  the  other  human  feelings  and  wants, 
and  these  in  their  turn  have  come  under  the  guidance  of 
the  intellect,  with  the  resultant  development  of  appro- 
priate social  institutions.  There  is  thus  a  bond  of  con- 
nection among  social  institutions,  an  interrelationship  and 
a  filiation,  since  all  are  derived  from  the  two  fundamental 
appetites  and  their  corresponding  institutions. 

Social  Parallelisms. — Social  institutions  as  they  de- 
velop seem  to  follow  a  definite  sequence  which  varies 
with  environing  conditions  and  the  stage  of  mentality 
attained  by  the  group.  If,  for  instance,  men  are  sihiilarly 
situated  in  respect  to  conditions  of  life  and  mental  de- 
velopment, they  will  tend  to  develop  similar  institutions, 
even  though  the  groups  are  separated  by  thousands  of 
miles.  Hence  the  anthropologist  and  the  ethnologist 
find  many  parallelisms  in  customs,  institutions,  and  traits 
of  human  character  among  races  widely  apart  but  simi- 
larly situated.  This  truth  is  one  aspect  of  the  so-called 
economic  interpretation  of  history ;  one  may  assume  that 
two  races  living  under  similar  economic  conditions  for 
many  generations  will  tend  to  develop  the  same  kind  of 
social  insti'tutions,  for  example,  the  same  types  of  domes- 
tic, religious,  and  political  organizations.  The  longer 
such  conditions  remain  constant,  the  more  closely  the 
institutions  will  approximate  toward  common  types.  This 
principle,  of  course,  will  seem  truer  in  simple  civiliza- 
tion. The  complexity  of  advanced  civilization  with  its 
many  contacts  introduces  wider  variations  and  retains 
also  survivals  from  earlier  stages,  presented  by  custom. 

Classifiications  of  Social  Institutions. — The  unity  of 
social  institutions  may  be  shown  in  many  ways,  and  soci- 
ologists are  not  yet  agreed  as  to  which  system  of  classifi- 
cation best  indicates  it;  whether  of  social  institutions,  phe- 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS      205 

nomena,  forces,  or  interests.  For  instance,  all  fundamen- 
tal social  institutions  may  be  listed  and  arranged  in  some 
order,  either  that  of  historical  development  or  of  logical 
connection  or  of  filiation ;  and  then  their  secondary  or 
derived  institutions ;  and  lastly,  their  related  phenomena 
of  a  more  temporary  sort,  not  sufficiently  integrated  to  be 
considered  as  institutional,  may  be  similarly  classified.  Or 
again,  social  phenomena  or  activities  may  be  arranged 
under  appropriate  headings  and  put  in  some  definite  or- 
der, as  in  the  case  of  institutions.  If  psychological  in- 
fluences are  strong,  instead  of  fixing  attention  on  institu- 
tions or  phenomena,  the  fundamental  social  feelings  or 
desires  or  the  interests  that  may  exist  in  the  social  mind 
as  the  result  of  reflection  are  listed  and  arranged  in 
proper  order. 

In  deciding  on  the  number  and  relative  importance  of 
the  fundamental  forces  or  institutions  listed,  there  are 
naturally  variations  and  modifications  due  to  the  varying 
personalities  of  the  several  writers  and  their  special  modes 
of  interpretation,  but  they  all  practically  agree  in  show- 
ing the  inherent  unity  of  social  institutions  and  the  basal 
importance  of  those  that  grow  out  of  attempts  to  satisfy 
physical  wants  and  needs.  This  unity  of  the  social  or- 
ganism and  its  evolution  from  the  simple  activities  of 
primitive  social  organization  are  important  sociological 
teachings  and  should  be  made  clear,  first  by  a  brief  state- 
ment of  the  meaning  of  the  term  social  institution,  and 
then  by  an  exposition  of  the  chief  classifications  em- 
ployed by  sociologists. 

Meaning  of  the  Term  Social  Institution. — It  may 
be  assumed  that  back  of  every  individual  or  social  action 
there  is  some  dominant  feeling,  desire,  or  emotion,  and 
that  the  actions  unitedly  make  up  the  field  of  phenomena 


2o6  SOCIOLOGY 

of  individual  and  social  activities.  These  actions,  of 
course,  may  be  the  result  of  conscious  or  of  instinctive, 
unconscious  desires  in  the  human  or  social  organism,  and 
if  these  are  permanent,  there  arise  definite  and  orderly 
modes  of  activity.  Thus,  in  primitive  life  the  need  for 
food  stimulated  men  to  activity  in  hunting,  and  by  a 
rude  sort  of  reasoning  based  on  experience,  hunting  in 
combination  was  seen  to  be  advantageous,  since  indi- 
viduals working  In  combination  can  accomplish  more  than 
the  sum  of  the  accomplishments  of  individuals  working 
singly.  The  customary  methods  of  the  hunt  used  by  the 
hunting-band  resulted  in  the  formulation  of  definite  rules 
and  regulations  of  procedure.  Hence  in  the  growth  of 
the  institution  of  the  hunting-band  one  may  note  (i) 
the  need  or  longing  for  food,  (2)  reasoning  as  to  the 
best  methods  of  securing  this  and  the  formulation  of 
regulations,  (3)  a  definite  organization,  and  then  (4) 
the  resultant  activity. 

Genetic  Development. — Whenever,  therefore,  hu- 
man groups  are  driven  by  permanent  desires  to  united 
activity,  there  will  regularly  develop  social  institutions  as 
a  means  and  an  aid  to  the  satisfaction  of  their  desires; 
these  social  institutions  at  first  will  develop  almost  auto- 
matically under  the  spur  of  necessity,  but  in  later  times 
they  may  develop  under  the  guidance  of  the  intellect, 
and  thus  become  susceptible  of  constant  modification,  vary- 
ing according  to  the  reasoning  capacity  of  the  group. 
The  structure  of  the  institution  may  remain  apparently 
fixed,  but  its  parts  and  the  energy  underlying  it  may 
undergo  many  modifications  under  the  pressure  of  dynam- 
ic civilization.  Marriage  and  government,  for  instance, 
as  social  institutions,  are  among  the  earliest  achievements 
of  civilization,  but  in  detail  and  spirit  these  institutions 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS      207 

present  historically  such  wide  variations  as  to  seem  at 
times  almost  like  new  creations.  Yet  in  essence  they  are 
the  same  now  as  they  were  thousands  of  years  ago;  in 
the  one  case  is  involved  a  regulation  of  human  sexual 
relations,  in  the  other  a  regulation  of  human  warfare  and 
economic  struggle. 

The  Economic  Institution  is  Basal. — Social  institu- 
tions can  be  studied  also  from  the  standpoint  of  their 
relations  one  to  another.  In  any  orderly  arrangement 
the  necessity  of  assuming  the  economic  as  the  funda- 
mental social  institution  is  clear.  Men  must  eat,  and 
strenuous  toil  is  necessary  even  yet  for  the  mass  of  man- 
kind to  obtain  sufficient  food.  Hence  economic  institu- 
tions are  primary  in  social  theorizing.  Next  to  this  in 
fundamental  order  is  the  sexual  impulse  or  desire  for 
mating.  As  civilization  advanced,  this  natural  feeling 
became  subject  to  social  regulation  and  developed  the  in- 
stitutions typified  by  formal  marriage  and  legal  kinship. 
Human  beings  gradually  became  associated  for  the  pur- 
pose of  preserving  and  continuing  life,  in  addition  to  the 
organization  of  the  hunting-band  and  the  family  group, 
so  that  there  came  with  growing  intellectuality  organiza- 
tions for  offense  and  defense — the  beginnings  of  the  state. 
And,  about  the  same  time  religious  organizations  de- 
veloped, primarily  for  the  sake  of  protecting  the  members 
of  the  group  against  supernatural  enemies  and  later  for 
the  purpose  of  cultivating  friendly  relations  with  the 
most  kindly  divinities.  In  connection  with  these  four 
great  institutions  grew  up  a  mass  of  custom  and  tradi- 
tion aiming  at  group  safety  and  representing  the  morals 
of  the  horde;  this  was  passed  on  from  generation  to  gen- 
eration by  social  imitation,  though  formal  instruction 
in  the  most  important  matters  was  given  to  the  young. 


2o8  SOCIOLOGY 

These  developments  were  in  the  era  of  "pain  economy" 
and  group  energies  were  absorbed  in  considerations  of 
safety,  so  that  there  automatically  developed  set  ways 
and  beliefs  sanctioned  by  experience,  departures  from 
which,  being  dangerous,  were  forbidden  under  penalty  of 
punishment,  outlawry,  or  death.  The  preservation  of 
custom  and  tradition  in  pure  form  being  so  important, 
the  wisest  and  most  capable  men  were  intrusted  with 
authority  to  safeguard,  to  interpret,  and  to  hand  these 
on  by  instruction  to  each  newer  generation.  In  this  way 
developed  leadership,  in  charge  of  economic  and  warring 
activities,  of  religious  rites  and  ceremonies,  of  law  and 
custom,  and  of  beliefs  and  traditions. 

Cultural  Development. — Through  formal  methods  of 
instruction,  at  the  initiatory  rites  for  the  youth,  for  ex- 
ample, and  through  specialized  training  in  the  use  of 
tools  and  weapons,  education  had  its  beginnings,  supple- 
mented by  play  as  the  connection  link  between  vocation 
and  education.  Occasional  leisure  gave  opportunity  to 
gratify  innate  appreciation  of  color,  form,  rhythm,  and 
sound  through  the  early  forms  of  drawing,  painting, 
adornment,  music,  both  vocal  and  instrumental,  and  the 
dance;  thus  the  development  of  aesthetic  feelings  neces- 
sitated aesthetic  institutions  for  perpetuating  the  stand- 
ards of  beauty  and  harmony  recognized  by  the  social 
group.  What  little  philosophizing  was  done  in  those  days 
was  vain  speculation  about  the  problems  of  birth,  life, 
and  death  and  fanciful  reasoning  about  the  powers  and 
phenomena  of  nature;  it  was  veiled  in  legends  and  myths, 
and  was  chiefly  Identified  with  religious  speculation.  At 
a  later  period  philosophy  and  rudimentary  science  were 
differentiated,  developing  their  own  methods  apart  from 
religious   speculation.     Thus,   one  may  trace  in   early 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS      209 

civilization  the  slow  rise  and  development  of  economic, 
domestic,  political,  religious,  moral,  educational,  aesthetic, 
and  intellectual  institutions,  with  their  numerous  derived 
and  secondary  institutions,  and  so  have  in  mind  a  pic- 
ture of  human  development  which  can  be  of  great  assis- 
tance to  a  proper  understanding  of  human  history  and 
thought. 

Differentiation  in  the  Study  of  Social  Institutions. 
— This  very  complexity  of  social  phenomena,  however, 
and  the  many-sided  possibilities  of  varying  emphasis 
make  clear  why  in  these  days  it  has  become  impossible 
to  study  society  as  a  unit.  It  is  too  complex  and  too 
highly  differentiated  to  be  included  in  one  comprehen- 
sive study,  so  that  inevitably  there  have  developed  move- 
ments in  the  direction  of  an  analysis  of  society  into  its 
component  parts,  in  order  that  by  an  intensive  study  of 
each  of  these,  there  might  follow  a  synthesis  of  all  into 
a  basal  science  of  society.  This  movement  has  taken 
various  forms,  all  fundamentally  occupied  with  the  same 
problems,  but  stressing  different  points  of  view.  Soci- 
ology itself  has  gained  thereby,  since,  of  course,  a 
truer  notion  of  society  can  be  obtained  from  a  synthesis 
of  many  viewpoints,  rather  than  from  one,  however  clear 
and  exact  it  may  be.  Several  of  these  points  of  view 
will  now  briefly  be  mentioned  as  illustrations  of  the  field 
of  social  phenomena  under  discussion. 

Comte's  Teaching. — Comte  thought  of  society  as  a 
"collective  organism,"  functioning  through  individuals. 
Individuals,  he  assumed,  are  social  by  nature  and  naturally 
grouped  into  families,  so  that  the  family  to  him  becomes 
the  fundamental  social  unit,  a  family  of  a  somewhat  pa- 
triarchal type,  in  which  women,  though  of  a  higher  affec- 
tive and  spiritual  capacity,  were  considered  to  be  intel- 


210  SOCIOLOGY 

lectually  subordinated  to  men.  Society  arises  from  the 
intellectual  and  moral  grouping  of  families  into  a  larger 
unity  combined  cooperatively  for  common  purposes. 
The  unity  of  effort  involved  in  cooperation  implies  gov- 
ernment, which  develops  readily  when  necessity  demands, 
and  finds  its  function  in  the  integration  of  social  activities, 
thus  becoming  the  agency  for  social  cohesion.  This  is 
about  as  far  as  Comte  got  in  his  Positive  Philosophy,  but 
in  his  Polity  he  indirectly  discusses  to  some  extent,  with 
a  little  more  elaboration,  familial,  economic,  educational, 
aesthetic  and  governmental  structure  and  function,  end- 
ing with  an  elaborate  explanation  of  the  structure  and 
function  of  society  best  suited  to  the  development  of  the 
religion  of  humanity,  since  this  embodied  in  essence  his 
theory  of  social  progress. 

Spencer's  Study  of  Institutions. — Spencer,  in  his 
Principles  of  Sociology,  thinks  of  society  as  an  organic 
entity  made  up  of  discrete  units  (individuals)  which  re- 
tain their  individualty  throughout,  though  they  are  under 
social  regulation.  He  considers  society  as  made  up  of 
races  composed  of  these  discrete  units,  and  conditioned 
by  environment ;  inorganic,  organic,  and  sociological.  So- 
cial structures  arise  along  with  social  functioning  and 
he  discusses  these  under  broad  headings,  namely,  insti- 
tutions industrial,  domestic,  political,  ecclesiastical,  in- 
cluding professional,  and  ceremonial,  the  last  four  of 
these  being  ranked  as  regulative.  His  method  was,  as 
is  generally  known,  to  accumulate  all  known  informa- 
tion that  might  properly  be  classed  as  social  phenomena, 
then  to  reclassify  this  material  under  the  above  headings 
(given  fully  in  his  charts  of  Descriptive  Sociology  as 
far  as  these  were  printed),  and  then  to  generalize  from 
this  material  his  conclusions  as  to  the  evolution  of  social 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS      211 

institutions.  Spencer  fully  recognized  the  fact  that  the 
above  institutions  are  by  no  means  the  complete  list,  and 
in  his  original  plan  he  intended  to  include  studies  also  of 
language,  play,  morals,  laws,  the  aesthetic  arts,  religious 
beliefs,  and  intellectual  activities  voiced  by  education  and 
science.  His  task,  however,  was  too  great  for  the  capac- 
ity of  any  one  man  and  he  gave  no  systematic  discussion 
of  these  later  subjects.^ 

Schaffle's  Social  Organism. — Schaffle's  encyclopae- 
dic work  on  the  Structure  and  Life  of  the  Social  Or- 
ganism (the  first  volume  of  which  was  published  in  1874) 
emphasizes  both  social  structure  and  function.  The  in- 
fluence of  Comte  and  Spencer,  however,  is  observable 
and  "social  psychology"  ^  has  its  place  in  the  scheme. 
Schaffle's  study,  however,  is  based  on  European  condi- 
tions in  the  main  and  hence  in  his  classification  of  struc- 
ture and  function,  he  is  obviously  thinking  of  his  own 
environment.  The  family,  state,  and  economic  systems 
are  vigorously  stressed,  with  suggested  anticipations  (pre- 
visions) of  world  systems  in  the  future.  Lesser  emphasis 
is  placed  on  language,  on  education  of  all  sorts,  religion, 
aesthetics,  and  social  intercourse  or  play.  Ethics,  law, 
and  morals  are  quite  fully  considered,  and  all  in  addi- 
tion to  a  study  of  evolution  and  of  the  many  forms  of 
environment  and  demographic  factors.  The  author's 
devotion  to  biological  analogies  has  caused  this  famous 
work  to  remain  largely  ignored  in  the  English  speaking 
world,  especially  as  there  is  no  English  translation,  but 
considering  the  date  of  its  pubHcation  it  should  be  con- 
sidered as  a  noteworthy  exemplification  of  great  erudi- 
tion and  some  genius. 

^  Some  of  these   were  briefly  discussed   in  his  essays,  note  also 
his  famous  work  on  Education. 
'  Vol.  i.  Sec.  IV. 


212  SOCIOLOGY 

Ward's  Classification. — Another  early  classification 
of  importance  illustrating  the  modern  stress  placed  on 
psychic  desires  is  that  of  Lester  F.  Ward,  who  in  his 
Dynamic  Sociology,  published  in  1883,  set  forth  his 
theory  of  social  forces  and  gave  a  classification  of  these.' 
This  classification  was  modified  somewhat  in  later  writ- 
ings and  appears  in  its  later  forms  in  Outlines  of  Soci- 
ology j  page  148,  and  in  Pure  Sociology,  page  261.  In 
substance  he  classifies  social  forces  under  two  headings, 
( I )  physical  forces  such  as  the  ontogenetic,  seeking 
individual  preservation,  and  the  phylogenetic,  seeking  race 
continuance;  (2)  under  the  heading  of  sociogenetic  forces 
he  gives  the  moral,  seeking  the  safe  and  good,  the  aesthe- 
tic, seeking  the  beautiful,  and  the  intellectual,  seeking  the 
useful  and  the  true. 

The  essential  point  in  this  scheme  is  that  attention  is 
no  longer  directed  to  social  structure,  function,  or  phe- 
nomena, but  to  the  psychic  feelings,  desires,  and  emotions 
surging  in  society,  resulting,  of  course,  in  the  forma- 
tion of  structure,  the  performance  of  function,  and  the 
growth  of  social  institutions.  In  Ward's  discussions  of 
social  institutions  he  stresses  as  primary  the  economic, 
political,  and  familial  and  as  derived  or  "spiritual"  in- 
stitutions the  ccsthetic,  moral,  and  intellectual. 

De  Greef's  Classification. — A  famous  classification 
of  social  phenomena  is  that  of  De  Greef,  the  well-known 
Belgian  sociologist,  given  in  Volume  i  (1886)  of  his 
Introduction  to  Sociology  and  again  in  Volume  3  ( 1902), 
This  presents  chiefly  from  a  structural  standpoint,  and  as 
a  supplement  to  Comte's  classification  of  sciences,  a  classi- 
fication of  terms  which  may  apply  equally  to  social  phe- 
nomena, or  to  social  institutions,  or  to  the  special  social 

'Vol.  i,  pp.  472,  480-482. 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS       213 

sciences.  As  a  basis  for  society  De  Greef  adopts  the 
Spencerian  elementary  factors  of  land  (including  inor- 
ganic and  organic  but  not  social  environment)  and  popu- 
lation (individuals  considered  as  biologic  and  psychic). 
The  combination  of  these  two  elementary  factors  results 
in  the  constitution  of  society,  animated  by  social  forces 
and  engaged  in  activities.  Each  class  of  social  phenomena, 
as  already  said,  may  be  considered  as  a  social  institution 
or  as  the  field  of  a  special  social  science,  and  each  such 
science  has  its  many  subdivisions  of  subordinate  sci- 
ences. Sociolog}%  in  his  opinion,  should  be  considered  as 
a  synthesis  of  these  social  sciences,  which  may  be  grouped 
into  a  series  of  seven  headings:  (i)  economics,  (2) 
genetics,  (3)  aesthetics,  (4)  collective  psychology  (re- 
ligious, metaphysical,  and  scientific  beliefs),  (5)  ethics 
(including  morals  and  customs),  (6)  law,  and  (7) 
politics. 

Of  this  classification  he  says:  "Each  of  these  sci- 
ences has  its  special  philosophy.  It  is  the  abstract  en- 
semble of  these  philosophies  that  constitutes  the  domain 
of  sociology.  This  classification  represents  to  us  the 
totality  of  the  social  sciences  according  to  their  natural, 
logical,  historical,  and  dogmatic  order  of  increasing  spe- 
cialization and  complexity,  or  of  decreasing  generality  and 
simplicity,  in  conformity  with  the  classification  of  ante- 
cedent sciences  established  by  Auguste  Comte."  *  He 
later  states  that  this  scheme  of  classification  is  provisional, 
and  hence  is  subject  to  modification  as  more  exact  in- 
formation is  obtained  through  investigation, 

0 titer    Classifications. — Ratzenhofer,^    a    follower   of 

*  American  Journal  of  Sociology,  January,  1903,  p.  480;  and  note 
also  chart  of  this  classification  in  Small's  Geiveral  Sociology,  p.  235. 
"  Sociologische  Erkenntniss,  pp.  54-66. 


214  SOCIOLOGY 

Gumplowicz,  but  who  broadened  and  improved  his  sys- 
tem, prefers  to  classify  social  activities  from  the  stand- 
point of  interests,  meaning  by  this  term  the  needs  and  de- 
sires, both  physiological  and  psychical,  that  stimulate  to 
activity.  He  has  a  five-fold  classification;  the  reprodu- 
cive  or  race  interest,  the  physiological  interest  (hunger 
and  thirst),  the  self -regarding  or  egotistic  interest,  the 
social  interest,  and  the  transcendental  interest  culminat- 
ing in  religion  and  philosophy. 

Professor  Albion  W.  Small  in  his  General  Sociology 
has  emphasized  a  classification  based  on  interests  or  ob- 
jective wants.®  These  he  explains  to  be  desires,  the  sat- 
isfaction of  which  is  necessary  for  the  realization  of 
one's  personality.  The  most  general  classes  of  interests 
he  would  emphasize  are:  Health,  Wealth,  Sociability, 
Knowledge,  Beauty,  and  Rightness.  Of  these  he  says 
that  in  general  all  the  acts  which  human  beings  have  ever 
been  known  to  perform  have  been  for  the  sake  of  these 
or  some  combination  of  ends  which  may  be  distributed 
among  these. 

Ross  in  his  chapter  on  Social  Forces,^  after  discussing 
and  comparing  various  systems  of  classifications,  suggests 
the  advisability  of  a  double  classification,  one  based  on 
the  desires  as  "the  primary  forces  as  they  well  up  in  con- 
sciousness" and  the  second  based  on  interests,  "the  great 
complexes,  woven  of  multicolored  strands  of  desire, 
which  shape  society  and  make  history."  He  then  di- 
vides desires  into  (i)  natural,  those  present  in  all  men, 
namely,  appetitive,  hedonic,  egotistic,  affective,  and  re- 
creative ;  and  (2)  cultural,  those  clearly  differentiated  only 
in  culture-men,  namely,   religious,   ethical,   aesthetic,   in- 

'  For    illustrations    of    these    see   General   Sociology,   pp.    447-468 
and  also  Chap.  L. 
^Foundations  of  Sociology,  Chap.  VII. 


CT  ASSIFICATION  OF  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS      215 

tellectual.  These  "elementary  social  forces,"  he  then 
argues,  "give'  off  impulses  which  run  together  and  form 
the  economic,  political,  religious,  and  intclleciual  interests, 
which  constitute  in  effect  the  chief  history-m-iking  forces." 

From  the  foregoing  it  may  be  seen  that  in  a  study  of 
society  one  may  note  objective  social  phenomena,  or  social 
institutions,  classifying  these  as  thoroughly  as  possible 
for  the  sake  of  closer  study;  or,  on  the  other  hand,  he 
may  devote  attention  to  the  underlying  psychological 
aspects  of  social  pKenomena  or  institutions  and  seek  to 
ascertain  what  "forces"  are  at  work,  or  what  "interests" 
unite  individuals  into  groups  in  the  performance  of  so- 
cial activities  with  resultant  group  activity. 

Ward's  Social  Forces. — Lester  F.  Ward's  theory  of 
social  forces  and  their  guidance  through  the  intellect 
definitely  placed  sociology  on  a  psychological  rather  than 
on  a  biological  basis.  As  a  monist  he  argued  the  hypoth- 
esis that,  arising  from  cosmic  energy,  through  chemism, 
there  finally  evolved  three  fundamentals  for  human  ex- 
istence, namely,  organic  life,  feeling,  intellect.  Feeling, 
he  argues,  with  its  concomitant  appreciation  of  pain  and 
pleasure  is  for  organisms  a  powerful  aid  to  survival,  so 
that  in  a  long  course  of  time,  a  nervous  system  develops 
reaching  its  maximum  in  man.  In  human  beings  the 
feelings  become  highly  differentiated  and  become  inte- 
grated through  the  development  of  the  intellect,  which,  in 
brief,  is  the  capacity  to  perceive  relationships.  Naturally 
the  most  intense  feelings  would  be  found  associated  with 
the  instincts  and  would  result  in  activities  tending  to  sat- 
isfy the  demands  of  the  physical  nature.  Instincts  should 
warn  of  satiety  but  the  mind,  which  becomes  conscious 
of  the  pleasure  derived  from  the  satisfaction  of  intense 
feelings,  stimulates  the  passions  to  excessive  indulgence, 


2i6  SOCIOLOGY 

and  thereby  drives  the  organism  towards  extermination 
through  degeneration.  Slowly  the  intellect  perceives  the 
relation  between  over-indulgence  and  death,  or  modera- 
tion and  life,  and  places  inhibitions  on  intense  feelings 
like  those  associated  with  hunger,  sex,  fear,  and  pugnacity, 
and  at  the  same  time  stimulates  related  derived  feelings, 
later  in  origin,  like  those  of  wealth-seeking,  affection  for 
kindred,  and  moral  bravery.  In  this  manner  social  ac- 
tivity tends  to  moderate  the  excesses  of  original  passions 
and  to  strengthen  those  social  activities  based  on  the  higher 
emotions  such  as  the  moral  and  the  aesthetic. 

In  this  explanation  it  is  important  tc  note  that  while 
logically  feelings  can  be  considered  apart  from  the  in- 
tellect, yet  practically  the  two  are  compounded  together 
in  the  passionate  desire  or  the  emotion,  since  even  the 
original  feelings  of  hunger  and  sex  in  human  beings  are 
perhaps  never  purely  instinctive  in  their  activities.  It 
is  important,  however,  in  Ward's  theory  that  this  logical 
distinction  be  maintained  for  the  reason  that  the  feelings, 
desires,  and  emotions  represent  the  dynamic  aspect  of 
the  mind,  and  the  intellect,  which  merely  perceives  rela- 
tionships, like  those  of  identity,  similarity,  difference, 
and  causation,  suggests  or  directs  by  inhibition  or  stimu- 
lation the  proper  line  of  activity  which  the  organism 
.should  follow.  Hence  Ward  names  the  collective  feelings, 
'the  conative  faculty,"  "the  will,"  "the  subjective  aspect 
of  the  mind,"  "the  dynamic  agent,"  and  speaks  of  the 
intellect  as  "the  objective  aspect  of  the  mind"  or  "the 
directive  agent." 

If  now  we  return  to  the  term  "social  forces"  the  full 
significance  of  this  can  readily  be  seen.  In  society,  m 
social  groups  of  every  sort,  there  are  desires  demanding 
expression  through  social  activity.     These  theoretically 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS      217 

may  be  considered  as  ( i )  instinctive  or  animal-like  in 
kind,  built  up  in  social  heredity  along  with  inhibitions  or 
stimulations  based  on  social  experiences;  or  as  (2)  orig- 
inal feelings  quite  fully  under  regulation,  or  (3)  the  orig- 
inal feelings  of  hunger  and  sex  may  be  considered  as  so 
highly  differentiated,  and  so  integrated  more  or  less  com- 
pletely in  social  "ganglia,"  that  the  "derived"  feelings  play 
an  important  part  in  any  scheme  of  social  activities.  In 
other  words,  in  social  activity  the  social,  aesthetic,  moral, 
and  intellectual  forces  are  from  the  standpoint  of  progress 
more  important  than  the  original  forces  of  hunger  and 
sex,  necessary  though  these  are  to  social  existence. 

Social  Interests. — Looking  at  the  matter  of  classifica- 
tion from  another  point  of  view  it  will  be  noted  that  some 
prefer  the  social  word  "interest"  rather  than  the  word 
"force,"  so  obviously  derived  from  the  science  of  physics. 
The  word  "interest,"  however,  directs  attention  to  what 
seems  obviously  in  consciousness  as  a  more  or  less  clearly 
defined  aim.  Its  emphasis  seems  intellectual  rather  than 
affectional  and  its  meaning  has  to  be  strained  somewhat 
to  include  organic  interests  hardly  perceived  by  average 
men.  Few  persons,  for  example,  or  few  groups  have 
any  conscious  interest  in  health,  though  the  health  in- 
terest is  organically  fundamental.  The  term  "social  in- 
terest," however,  has  a  distinct  utility  in  sociological  dis- 
cussions, though  perhaps  mostly  useful  in  the  discussions 
of  telic  rather  than  genetic  activities. 

The  Social  Institution. — It  now  becomes  possible  to 
see  in  review  what  is  meant  by  the  term  "social  institu- 
tion." If  there  is  in  a  social  group  a  definite  permanent 
desire  demanding  satisfaction,  like  the  desires  for  food, 
safety,  or  race  continuance,  these  will  result  in  the  rise 
of  conscious  interests  and  in  definite  and  permanent  so- 


21 8  SOCIOLOGY 

*cial  activities.  These  by  custom  will  be  performed  in 
set  ways  through  definite  organizations.  There  are, 
therefore,  the  four  essentials  already  mentioned,  namely, 
a  permanent  desire  or  interest,  a  permanent  kind  of  ac- 
tivity, and  a  permanent  organization,  functioning  through 
sanctioned  methods.  To  be  sure  in  time  there  will  be 
variations  and  differentiations;  the  hunger  desire  may 
differentiate  from  itself  the  desire  for  wealth,  the  hunt- 
ing activity  may  develop  into  commerce  enterprises,  and 
the  organization  may  change  into  a  system  of  markets 
and  banks,  but  after  all  the  commercial  insfitittion  is 
fundamentally  nothing  but  a  differentiated  and  highly 
specialized  form  of  hunt. 

In  the  same  manner  the  sex  desire,  which  instinctively 
leads  merely  to  seasonal  intercourse,  becomes  in  the  social 
group  a  social  force  for  the  continuance  of  the  race,  act- 
ing through  the  organization  of  the  family,  under  set 
rules  in  respect  to  courtship,  marriage,  and  divorce.  Here 
again  the  forms  of  courtship,  marriage,  and  divorce  may 
change,  as  the  sex  passion  becomes  less  physical,  less 
economic,  and  more  romantic  or  conjugal  in  type;  or 
the  sex  passion,  inhibited  by  social  convention,  may  ex- 
press itself  in  religious  ecstacy,  altruistic  activity,  or 
aesthetic  emotionalism,  but  these  derived  feelings  develop 
each  its  own  type  of  activity,  performed  under  set  meth- 
ods and  organization,  and  thereby  develop  into  other  social 
institutions,  remotely  or  closely  affiliated  with  the  funda- 
mental institution  of  the  family. 

Many  Classifications  Are  Possible. — It  may,  fur- 
thermore, be  obvious  from  this  explanation  that  in  a  dis- 
cussion of  social  classifications  no  special  stress  needs 
to  be  placed  on  any  particular  classification.  No  one 
should  assume,   for  instance,  that  Ward   in  classifying 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS      219 

forces  as  preservative,  reproductive,  moral,  aesthetic,  and 
intellectual  meant  to  imply  that  in  the  individual  brain 
there  are  special  compartments  for  each  of  these  sets  of 
forces.  Broadly,  one  may  speak  of  a  social  force  in 
thinking  of  the  physico-psychic  energy  surging  in  human 
beings  massed  into  a  social  group,  and  this  may  be 
thought  of  as  differentiated  into  specific  social  forces, 
but  the  distinction  between  these  forces  is  largely  logical ; 
the  social  forces  are  interrelated  or  integrated,  each  more 
or  less  closely  shares  in  the  nature  of  the  others,  so 
that,  for  example,  the  hunger  and  sex  feelings  are  rarely 
if  ever  experienced  apart  from  moral,  aesthetic,  and  in- 
tellectual considerations;  and  these  derived  forces  like- 
wise, if  analyzed,  show  their  bases  in  the  feelings  of 
hunger  and  sex.  In  our  conversation  we  unconsciously 
imply  this  connection.  We  hunger  after  righteousness, 
we  thirst  for  knowledge,  we  eagerly  embrace  the  truth, 
and  certainly  we  enjoy  our  food  better  when  we  know 
that  it  has  been  honestly  acquired,  daintily  served,  and 
is  scientifically  apportioned  to  our  bodily  needs. 

Any  classification  of  social  phenomena,  institutions, 
forces,  or  interests  must  for  the  present  be  largely  a 
matter  of  the  personal  equation,  or  of  some  particular 
point  of  view,  or  based  on  the  general  activities  of  a 
special  type  of  society.  It  is  not  necessary,  therefore, 
to  assume  that  any  one  of  the  several  systems  of  classifiica- 
tion  already  given  is  to  be  standardized  and  the  others 
rejected.  If  psychology  should  ever  be  able  to  agree  on 
the  definition  of  instincts  and  inherited  mental  tendencies 
or  capacities,  and  to  state  definitely  what  of  these  were 
inherent  and  fundamental  in  primitive  man  or  even  in 
modern  man,  a  real  basis  for  a  theory  of  social  forces 
would  exist.     On  the  whole,  one  is  fairly  safe  in  say- 


220  SOCIOLOGY 

ing  that  man  has  undoubtedly  instincts  for  food  and 
sex  and,  if  not  instincts,  at  least  inherited  tendencies 
towards  fear  or  pugnacity.  Pugnacity  is  common  in  the 
hunt,  in  war,  and  in  male  courtship.  Fear  made  the 
gods  we  are  told  by  the  ancients  and  by  the  anthropolog- 
ical sciences,  but  in  later  religions  fear  becomes  awe  and 
reverence  and  notions  of  divine  helpfulness  and  love 
are  also  common  in  religions.  Play,  so  largely  aesthetic 
at  present,  is  historically  vocational,  pugnacious,  amative, 
and  religious,  though  at  times  it  is  merely  the  aimless 
expenditure  of  surplus  energy.  Presumably,  therefore, 
classifications  of  social  phenomena  might  well  vary  with 
the  kind  or  degree  of  civilization,  emphasizing  always 
the  two  fundamental  classes  based  on  hunger  and  sex, 
noting  the  growing  differentiation  of  jthese  with  ad- 
vancing civilization,  and  stressing  vigorously  the  derived 
or  cultural  Interests  in  more  advanced  civilization.  It 
may  be  assumed  also  that  In  later  stages  of  human  prog- 
ress these  will  be  even  more  vigorously  emphasized  since 
modem  Utopias  usually  assume  that  In  later  ages  the 
higher  emotions  and  the  intellect  will  be  dominant. 


CHAPTER  XIV 


ECONOMIC  DEVELOPMENT 


The  study  of  the  development  of  social  institutions, 
so  well  begun  by  Spencer,  covers  a  wide  field  to-day  in 
sociological  investigation,  and  the  results  are  contained 
in  numerous  works.  Since  it  is  important  that  the  so- 
ciological process  of  change  be  comprehended,  at  least  in 
its  fundamentals,  the  chief  points  in  respect  to  the  de- 
velopment of  certain  of  the  great  classes  of  social  institu- 
tions will  be  explained  from  the  standpoint  of  sociology, 
emphasizing,  as  most  important,  dynamic  changes  and 
the  rationalizing  of  the  institutions  themselves. 

In  seeking  to  ascertain  what  kind  of  data  are  important 
for  sociology,  attention  has  already  been  called  to  the 
basal  sciences  of  biology  and  psychology.  But  in  the 
study  of  social  phenomena  proper  the  economic  is  ad- 
mittedly basal,  since  physical  life,  which  is  sustained 
through  economic  efforts,  is  essential  to  psychic  and  so- 
cial development.  Just  as  the  human  mind  is  dependent 
on  a  nervous  system  for  expression,  so  the  cultural 
aspect  of  society  depends  on  its  economic  situation  and 
develops  with  it  step  by  step.  The  implication  is  that 
their  relationship  is  intrinsic  and  that  each  may  be  the 
better  comprehended  by  seeing  the  many  connections 
that  unite  it  with  the  other.  They  are  the  two  sides  of - 
the  same  shield,  and  it  is  as  absurd  to  avow  on  the  one 
side  a  "bread  and  butter  philosophy"  as  to  proclaim  on 

221 


222  SOCIOLOGY 

the  other  a  transcendentalism  of  "high  thinking"  without 
even  "plain  living," 

Influence  of  Physical  Nature. — There  is  a  school  of 
sociologists  that  tends  to  emphasize  the  importance  of 
natural  physical  conditions  in  the  determination  of  social 
development.  From  Plato  to  the  present  time  writers 
have  called  attention  to  the  influence  of  climate,  the 
fertility  of  the  soil,  the  necessity  of  mining-wealth  and 
of  commercial  facilities  in  the  form  of  good  harbors 
and  navigable  rivers,  and  for  manufactures  natural 
energy,  such  as  falling  water,  available  for  power.  The 
argument  is  that  man  is  largely  the  creature  of  his 
physical  environment,  with  a  sort  of  implication  that  he 
has  no  control  over  it.  In  very  primitive  civilization, 
when  savage  hordes  lived  for  thousands  of  years  in 
restricted  habitats,  having  few  achievements  or  knowl- 
edge of  any  consequence,  there  was  doubtless  truth  in 
this  theory.  Nature  selected  those  adapted  to  the  climatic 
environment  and  molded  them  to  suit  such  conditions. 
But  from  the  moment  when  man  began  to  achieve,  and 
pass  from  savagery  to  civilization  he  began  to  modify 
his  physical  environment.  He  modifies  climate  by  cloth- 
ing and  housing;  he  adds  to  the  productivity  of  the  soil  by 
right  cultivation  and  by  fertilizers ;  if  good  ports  or 
rivers  are  lacking  he  digs  harbors  and  transports  his 
goods  on  canals  or  railways ;  if  natural  power  in  its  older 
forms  is  insufficient  he  utilizes  other  forces  of  nature 
by  the  scientific  development  of  steam  and  electricity; 
and  if  his  own  region  fails  to  supply  him  with  ores,  he 
imports  them  from  his  neighbors.  In  other  words,  while 
man  is  determined  somewhat  by  his  physical  environ- 
ment, he  himself  decides  by  intellectual  processes  what 
modifications  in  the  environment  he  desires  to  make,  and 


ECONOMIC  DEVELOPMENT  223 

then  deliberately  seeks  to  create  about  him  such  an  en- 
vironment. 

Migration. — This  he  may  do,  aside  from  scientific 
achievements,  by  the  simple  expedient  of  migration,  and 
early  human  history  is  one  long  record  of  the  migrations 
of  peoples  from  less  favored  to  more  favored  parts  of 
the  earth.  Migration  in  its  peaceable  form,  and  subject 
to  national  and  international  regulation,  is  still  a  promi- 
nent factor  in  civilization.  The  distinction  between  the 
old  and  the  new  may  be  readily  seen  by  comparing 
Caesar's  merciless  treatment  of  migrating  Helvetians  and 
Germans,  with  the  newer  policy  of  Americanization  for 
immigrants  within  the  United  States.  Migration,  how- 
ever, is  a  temporary  expedient,  and  in  civilizing  influence 
is  low  in  grade  when  compared  with  readjustments  within 
the  social  group,  so  as  to  meet  satisfactorily  newer  con- 
ditions. Migration  on  a  large  scale  is  looked  on  with  de- 
creasing favor,  and  each  state  henceforth  should  aim  to 
retain  its  own  population,  as  its  most  valuable  asset,  by 
proper  readjustments  of  its  economic  system. 

The  Demand  for  Foods. — If  economic  development 
depends  so  largely  on  the  physical  conditions  already 
alluded  to,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  the  economic  history  of 
man  could  be  shown  by  noting  his  increasing  capacity 
to  dictate  the  kind  of  physical  environment  under  which 
he  desires  to  live.  Now  the  fundamental  economic  desire 
is  the  demand  for  food.  Man  must  eat  to  live  and  hence 
the  fundamental  and  most  important  human  activity  is 
the  search  for  foods.  A  person  well  supplied  with  nour- 
ishing food  has  a  good  basis  for  all  other  forms  of  de- 
velopment. No  race  poorly  fed  on  improper  food  can 
make  any  great  social  advance.  A  variety  of  good 
foods   regularly   supplied   and   wisely   used   is   a   social 


224  SOCIOLOGY 

necessity.  Unquestionably  we  are  just  passing  into  a 
more  scientific  period  in  respect  to  food  supplies.  Science 
will  yet  dictate  the  kinds  and  quantity  of  food  needed 
for  high  development.  Meanwhile  faddists,  "poison 
squads,"  and  pure  food  laws  show  the  trend  of  the 
times  toward  a  better  comprehension  of  what  constitutes 
a  scientific  food. 

In  primitive  days,  however,  men  were  more  deeply 
concerned  with  the  quantity  than  with  the  quality  of 
food.  When  food  was  abundant  they  gorged,  at  other 
times  they  starved ;  fresh  or  putrid,  raw  or  cooked,  coarse 
or  delicate,  vegetable,  animal  or  human,  all  was  promptly 
transferred  to  their  stomachs.  As  Ward  puts  it,  "It 
might  almost  be  said  that  the  length  of  time  it  requires 
for  food  to  pass  from  the  lips  to  the  stomach  is  a  measure 
of  civilization."  ^  It  was  a  great  advance  when  men 
began  to  exercise  forethought  by  forbearing  to  eat  all 
on  hand,  having  learned  how  to  dry  foods  in  the  sun 
and  so  to  preserve  them  against  times  of  scarcity.  An 
echo  of  this  achievement  belongs  to  our  generation,  when 
through  the  development  of  the  canning  industry  and  of 
the  process  of  making  artificial  ice,  the  refrigerator  car 
and  steamer,  and  the  cold-storage  plant  became  possible, 
thus  largely  increasing  our  capacity  to  preserve  for  long 
periods  perishable  foods.  Because  of  these  developments 
the  tropics  will  furnish  to  the  temperate  zones  increas- 
ingly larger  stores  of  fruits  and  flesh  foods,  and  become 
thereby  the  center  of  great  economic  activities.^ 

Nomadism  and  Agriculture. — Another  achievement 
was  made  when,  whether  by  chance  or  intention,  animals 
were  domesticated,  probably  through  woman's  ingenuity 

*  Pure  Sociology,  p.  285. 

'  See  Kidd,  The  Control  of  the  Tropics. 


ECONOMIC  DEVELOPMENT  225 

and  desire  for  an  assured  food  supply  for  her  children. 
The  economic  importance  of  this  is  easily  seen.  In  the 
dog,  man  had  an  assistant  in  the  chase  and,  if  necessary, 
a  food  supply;  beasts  of  burden  served  a  double  function 
as  means  of  transportation  and  as  food;  other  animals 
were  used  to  furnish  milk,  cheese,  butter,  flesh  foods, 
and  clothing.  From  that  time  on  the  hunt  ceased  to 
be  the  chief  means  of  support,  and  became  secondary  to 
the  breeding  and  -care  of  flocks  and  herds,  so  that  men 
no  longer  needed  to  starve  through  the  winter,  since  they 
could  subsist  on  the  abundant  food  supplies  in  their  folds. 
Evidently  this  meant  a  revolution  in  industrial  life.  In- 
stead of  the  wild  free  life  of  the  hunter  came  a  com- 
pact group  with  definite  occupations,  skilled  in  defending 
their  wealth  against  wild  beasts  and  hungry  outsiders. 
The  story  of  Jacob  and  Esau  illustrates  the  conflict  be- 
tween these  two  occupations,  just  as  the  legend  of  Cain 
and  Abel  illustrates  the  antagonism  between  the  pastoral 
and  the  agricultural. 

In  primitive  civilization  the  males  by  hunting  supplied 
flesh  foods,  and  the  females  armed  with  the  digging 
stick,  ancestor  of  the  spade  and  the  hoe,  secured  vege- 
tables as  supplementary  foods.  In  pastoral  life  the  flesh 
of  animals  still  furnished  the  staple  food,  which  was 
supplemented  by  natural  fruits  and  by  the  products  of  the 
rude  agriculture  performed  by  the  women;  but  with  in- 
crease of  population  and  a  larger  consequent  demand  for 
food  of  all  kinds,  the  supply  of  flesh  foods  became  rela- 
tively smaller,  and  edible  grains  became  the  staff  of  life. 
Then  the  males  had  to  assist  in  the  cultivation  of  the 
fields  and  to  forswear  to  a  large  extent  the  more  favored 
occupations  of  hunting,  shepherding  their  flocks,  or  war- 
ring with  their  neighbors.     Caesar  and  Tacitus  give  us 


226  SOCIOLOGY 

amusing  accounts  of  our  barbarian  Teutonic  ancestors, 
dwelling  on  their  small  love  for  agriculture  and  specifying 
as  their  favorite  amusements  eating,  drinking,  hunting, 
and  fighting.  Thus,  as  time  passed  on,  and  population 
increased  faster  than  the  land  afforded  sustenance  for 
cattle,  men  were  compelled  unwillingly  to  devote  them- 
selves more  and  more  assiduously  to  the  irksome  task 
of  the  cultivation  of  the  soil.  The  horror  of  daily  and 
monotonous  labor  seemed  a  curse  to  them,  and  the  un- 
certainty as  to  whether  they  should  reap  what  they  sowed 
acted  as  a  drag  to  their  energy.  It  required  much  patience 
and  forethought  laboriously  to  till  the  earth  and  then  to 
wait  weeks  and  months  for  returns.  A  new  type  of  occu- 
pation, a  new  type  of  man,  and  a  more  compact  civiliza- 
tion were  tlie  results.  It  was  through  farming  that  men 
learned  the  secret  of  hard,  unremitting  toil,  patience, 
hopefulness,  forethought,  and  stability,  and  passed  defi- 
nitely from  the  flesh  diet  of  nomadism  to  vegetative  foods. 
Rise  of  Slavery. — Fortunately,  perhaps,  the  reason 
of  man  hit  on  a  happy  device  whereby  some,  at  least, 
might  escape  the  hated  drudgery  of  daily  toil.  In 
early  days  man-hunting  for  cannibalistic  purposes  had 
been  a  favorite  amusement,  combining  profit  with  pleas- 
ure. When,  however,  the  taste  for  human  flesh  declined, 
due  possibly  to  the  additions  of  flesh  foods  furnished  by 
flock  and  herd,  massacre  and  the  torture  of  captives  took 
its  place,  women  and  children  alone  being  sometimes  saved 
for  slavery.^  Later  it  was  perceived  that  the  male  also 
might  be  spared  and  compelled  under  the  lash  to  perform 
laborious  toil  for  his  master.  Thus  arose  the  institution 
of  slavery,  as  a  substitute  for  cannibalism,  massacre, 
and  torture,  and  hence  in  its  beginnings  a  benevolent 

*  See,  e.g.,  Deuteronomy  XX,  13,  14;  I  Chronicles  XX,  3. 


ECONOMIC  DEVELOPMENT  227 

institution,  if  we  assume  that  to  the  slave  compulsory 
labor  with  life  was  better  than  a  painful  death.  At 
any  rate  all  over  the  world,  wherever  men  had  drudgery 
and  enemies,  these  latter  were  enslaved  if  possible  and 
forced  to  labor.  An  economic  benefit  from  this  was 
that  agriculture  as  a  definite  occupation  became  much 
more  feasible.  The  daily  routine  was  performed  by 
slaves,  who  thereby  acquired  the  capacity  and  habit  of 
unwearied  industry.  The  number  of  slaves  increased 
through  war  and  compulsory  breeding,  but  in  due  time 
slave  labor,  performed  as  a  hated  task,  failed  to  com- 
pete successfully  with  free  labor  working  for  wages, 
beggarly  though  the  compensation  was.  Yet,  when  as 
serfs  or  as  a  peasant  population  their  lot  became  some- 
what lightened,  they  still  kept  up  their  tireless  work  for 
the  compensation  of  daily  food.  Even  to-day  the  peasant 
forms  the  largest  part  of  the  world's  population  and  per- 
forms the  great  mass  of  drudgery  in  civilization  in  re- 
turn for  bare  subsistence.  As  peasants  in  China,  Russia, 
India,  and  Latin  America,  and  as  unskilled  laborers  in 
Europe  they  toil  steadily  and  laboriously,  still  receiving 
as  pay  the  mere  necessities  of  life,  scarcely  knowing 
to-day  whether  they  will  have  food  and  shelter  on  the 
morrow. 

Rise  of  a  Leisure  Class. — An  important  indirect 
effect  of  slavery  was  the  rise  of  a  leisure  class.  By  this 
term  is  not  meant  those  who  have  no  work  whatsoever 
to  do,  but  rather  those  who  are  not  compelled  to  labor 
strenuously  with  their  hands  in  the  industries  in  order 
to  obtain  their  economic  support.  In  primitive  life 
doubtless  the  energy  of  all  was  chiefly  expended  in  the 
pursuit  of  daily  food ;  the  occasional  leisure  was  probably 
in  most  cases  wasted,  although  at  times  it  may  have  been 


228  SOCIOLOGY 

utilized  by  a  few  for  reflection  and  achievement.  With 
slavery  and  larger  wealth  more  would  be  freed  from 
economic  necessity  and  thereby  given  opportunity  for 
mental  improvement  and  achievement.  Unquestionably 
many  would  waste  their  leisure  riotously  and  foolishly, 
but  others  again  would  utilize  it  to  the  utmost.  In  this 
manner  there  evolved  a  leisure  class  as  distinguished  from 
a  slave  class,  and  on  the  basis  of  this  distinction  came, 
in  later  generations,  caste  and  class  systems,  emphasizing 
aristocratic  forms  of  organization,  based  on  the  domi- 
nance of  noble  birth,  learning,  and  wealth. 

Trade  and  the  Industries. — There  was  still  another 
possibility,  aside  from  the  use  of  slaves,  of  escaping 
from  the  irksome. drudgery  of  agricultural  life.  Far  back 
in  civilization  men  had  bartered  their  surplus  for  com- 
modities enjoyed  by  their  neighbors,  and  in  this  way 
had  begun  the  development  of  market  placed,  trade 
routes,  a  means  of  exchange  in  some  form  of  money,  and 
the  trader's  occupation.  Others  again  had  found  a  pecu- 
liar satisfaction  in  the  making  of  tools  and  weapons, 
and  had  become  facile  in  smithing  of  all  sorts.  Others 
had  become  expert  in  the  use  of  tools,  and  were  busily 
engaged  in  simple  forms  of  manufacture.  To  many,  such 
occupations  seemed  more  attractive  than  farming,  and 
wherever  opportunity  allowed,  commerce  and  manufac- 
tures developed,  resulting  in  the  rise  of  the  city  with  its 
complex  life,  so  favorable  to  high  civilization. 

Resultant  Social  Achievement. — The  advantage  of 
this  change  from  the  standpoint  of  achievement  is  easily 
perceived.  Manufactures  meant  inventions,  greater  skill, 
wider  knowledge  of  natural  resources  and  a  vastly  greater 
output  in  proportion  to  the  energy  expended.  Com- 
merce meant  social  intercourse,  the  mingling  of  civiliza- 


ECONOMIC  DEVELOPMENT  229 

tions,  larger  ideas,  and  the  stimulus  of  activity  through 
the  hope  of  gain.  No  purely  pastoral  or  agricultural 
people  can  ever  hope  to  become  wealthy  and  enjoy  a  high 
civilization.  They  may  live  a  simple  life  and  have  homely 
virtues  and  sterling  qualities  of  mind,  but  they  lack  the 
thrill  and  vigor  of  urban  civilization,  which  develops 
only  through  commerce  and  manufacture.  Nor  can  they 
ever  draw  far  away  from  the  fear  of  famine  since  their 
very  existence  depends  on  the  proper  proportion  of  sun 
and  rain,  ajid  they  seldom  have  a  reserve  supply  of 
foods  to  be  drawn  on  in  case  of  successive  poor  seasons, 
nor  have  they  manufactured  goods  to  be  exchanged  in 
commerce  for  food.  Evidently,  then,  the  rise  and  pre- 
dominance of  a  civilization  built  on  commerce  and  manu- 
factures imply  still  greater  social  achievement,  and  his- 
tory may  be  illuminated  by  noting  how  a  nation  rises 
into  prominence  when  it  becomes  the  center  of  com- 
merce and  manufactures,  and  then  sinks  back  into  relative 
insignificance  as  a  more  adaptable  and  inventive  nation 
conquers  it  in  war  or  economic  competition. 

Through  such  changes  urban  life  no  longer  needed  to 
center  itself  in  the  midst  of  a  fertile  region,  its  natural 
site,  but  found  location  wherever  commercial  facilities 
offered  themselves  or  hidden  mines  of  metals  could  be 
found.  For  this  reason  throughout  the  ancient  and  mod- 
em world  urban  centers  may  be  looked  for  (i)  in  the 
centers  of  fertile  plains  and  valleys,  (2)  at  the  mouths, 
junctions  or  head  waters  of  navigable  streams,*  or  on 
the  harbors  of  islands,  lakes,  and  seas,  and  (3)  wherever 
there  are  mines  of  metals  or  quarries  of  stone  suitable 
for  building  purposes,  or  falling  water  to  furnish  power. 

*  Canals  and  roads  of  all  sorts  from  this  standpoint  may  be  con- 
sidered as  artificial  streams. 


230  SOCIOLOGY 

In  the  rise  of  commerce  is  developed  of  necessity  the 
process  of  transportation.  In  place  of  the  pack  on  the 
human  back  come  the  canoe  and  the  beast  of  burden, 
then  roads  are  built,  canals  are  dug  for  transportation 
as  well  as  for  irrigation,  and  finally  come  the  sailing 
vessel,  the  steamboat,  and  the  railroad  in  all  of  their 
numerous  present  and  possible  forms,  as  well  as  inventive 
achievements  for  the  transmission  of  news  and  mes- 
sages, culminating  in  the  present  system  of  wireless  teleg- 
raphy. 

The  Utilization  of  the  Materials  and  Forces  of 
Nature. — Since  the  anthropological  sciences  trace  the 
development  of  man  in  his  early  mastery  over  the  ma- 
terials and  forces  of  nature,^  attention  here  need  simply 
be  directed  to  the  sociological  significance  of  such  de- 
velopment. In  these  days,  in  place  of  a,  continuous 
struggle  for  mere  subsistence,  we  desire  abundant  food 
of  good  quahty,  and  many  comforts  and  luxuries  be- 
sides. We  (iesire  leisure  for  mental,  moral,  and  aesthetic 
enjoyment,  and  prefer  to  spend  as  little  economic  energy 
as  need  be,  in  order  to  attain  these  things..  In  other 
words,  we  demand  a  relatively  greater  return  for  a  smaller 
economic  effort.  This  becomes  increasingly  possible  as 
we  discover  how  to  utilize  what  nature  so  generously 
supplies  to  us ;  as  we  learn  to  use  more  effectively  wood, 
stone,  and  metal,  and  to  increase  our  store  of  these 
through  the  preservation  and  enlargement  of  our  forests, 
the  manufacture  of  artificial  stone,  by  the  making  of 
steel,  the  extraction  of  aluminum  from  clay,  or  nitrogen 
from  the  air.  As  also  we  pass  beyond  the  sail  and  the 
water  mill  to  the  enormous  energies  stored  in  steam,  oil 

'  Such  books  as  Wallace's  JVondcrful  Century,  or  lies'  Inventors 
at  Work,  show  the  scientific  discoveries  and  inventions  of  the 
present  age. 


ECONOMIC  DEVELOPMENT  231 

and  electricity,  we  reach  a  condition  when  Malthusianism 
becomes  old-fashioned.  For  through  these  achievements 
food  supplies  are  multiplied  enormously,  and  the  energy 
needed  to  attain  them  passes  as  a  burden  from  human 
muscle  to  nature  itself.  The  brain  of  man  invents  and 
guides  the  machine,  and  natural  power  does  the  rest. 
The  man  behind  the  machine  symbolizes  a  great  factor 
in  dynamic  civilization,  as  well  as  the  man  behind  the 
gun.  The  real  hopefulness  of  the  situation  at  present 
is,  that  as  long  as  the  intellect  of  man  can  continue  to 
make  improvements  in  machinery,  and  utilize  more  effi- 
ciently natural  resources,  mankind  will  become  more 
and  more  free  from  the  fear  of  starvation;  the  standards 
of  life  will  rise;  slavery,  serfdom,  and  unskilled  labor 
will  disappear,  and  with  shorter  hours  of  labor,  which 
will  involve  intelligence  rather  than  muscle,  even  the 
working  classes  will  have  leisure  to  devote  themselves 
tc)  cultural  attainment,  as  is  not  possible  under  a  sys- 
tem involving  strenuous  toil  and  unremitting  poverty. 

The  Natural  Wages  of  Labor. — The  implication 
from  this  is  that  economic  consumption  will  tend  more 
and  more  toward  a  better  system  of  labor  rewards,  a 
question  complicated  by  the  existence  of  private  property. 
In  primitive  civilization  property  was  communal  except 
in  such  matters  as  weapons,  ornaments,  and  clothing. 
In  other  respects  all  shared  and  shared  alike  whether 
in  hunting  or  in  spoil. ^  In  pastoral  and  agricultural 
civilization  there  was  communal  property  and  also  family 
possessions ;  not  only  were  there  variations  in  the  wealth 
of  different  families,  but  there  was  also  a  non-prop- 
ertied class  of  serfs  and  slaves.     In  urban  civilization 

•See  e.g.  Numbers  XXXI,  27;  I  Samuel  XXX,  21-25,  for  Hebraic 
illustrations. 


232  SOCIOLOGY 

based  on  commerce  and  manufactures  individual  rights 
in  property  are  fully  recognized  even  as  against  the 
family.  This  is  in  harmony  with  individualistic  ideals 
so  necessary  in  an  age  of  enterprise  and  private  initiative. 
The  gospels  on  several  occasions  announce  a  principle 
which  in  substance  is  that,  who  has  much  will  have 
more,  and  who  has  little  will  have  less/  In  modern  form 
it  is  the  question  whether  or  not  the  rich  are  growing 
richer  and  the  poor  poorer.  Under  genetic  development 
the  rule  seems  to  hold  good,  and  Loria  ^  explains  the 
principles  involved.  Those  who  have  wealth  have  power, 
dominate  legal  standards,  and  control  social  institutions; 
hence  they  naturally  tend  to  arrange  the  system  in  such 
way  that  they  will  increase  their  wealth.  Lacking,  how- 
ever, deep  insight  and  broad  knowledge  they  do  so  at  the 
expense  of  the  many  and  drag  down  civilization  in 
consequence.  In  modem  times  with  more  wisdom  the 
social  aim  is  to  increase  the  wealth  of  the  community 
as  a  whole,  and  so  to  arrange  the  distribution  of  it 
that  the  proportionately  larger  share  shall  go  to  the 
many,  not  to  the  few.  Historically  it  can  be  shown  that 
under  genetic  development  the  wealth  of  the  community 
flows  into  the  possession  of  the  privileged  classes,  the 
nobility,  clergy,  and  leisure  classes  generally.  This  in- 
evitably results  in  a  two-class  system,  the  very  rich  and 
the!  ver^'  poor,  Aristotle  sought  to  show  in  his  Politics  ^ 
that  this  evil  could  be  checked  by  wise  legislation,  as 
Plato  before  him  had  tried  to  show  a  remedy  in  Utopian 
form.^^ 

Modifications  in  Higher  Civilization. — The  break- 

'See  e.g.  Mark  XII,  25. 

*  Economic  Foundations  of  Society. 

•  Books  IV  and  V. 

"In  the  Republic  and  the  Laws. 


ECONOMIC  DEVELOPMENT  233 

ing  down  of  this  system  begins  with  the  era  of  com- 
merce, w'hich  tends  always  toward  democracy.     Energy 
and  capacity,  irrespective  of  birth,  are  in  demand,  and 
large  rewards  go  to  the  man  who  has  ability,  even  though 
he  is  ignobly  bom.     Manufactures  tend  in  the  same  di- 
rection, and  as  the  result  of  these  influences  a  middle 
class   is   formed  made  up   of   commoners  who   acquire 
wealth.     As  skill  and  energy  come  more  and  more  into 
demand,  others  from  the  ranks  rise  into  the  professions, 
into  highly  paid,  skilled  trades,  and  into  positions  of  re- 
sponsibility in  business.     These  also  receive  a  propor- 
tionately   larger    share    of    w^ealth.      If    statistics    were 
available,   it  would  be  possible  to   show  the  march  of 
civilization   by   noting  historically    the   decrease   in   per 
cent  of  those  who  live  from  hand  to  mouth.    It  is  probable 
that  intelligent  legislation  will  have  to  supplement  the 
genetic  development  initiated  by  commerce  and  manufac- 
tures, and  society  by  its  wisdom  may  have  to  place  handi- 
caps   on    excessive    fortunes,    through    specially    devised 
systems  of  taxation,  as,   for  example,  through  income, 
corporation,  and  inheritance  taxes.     On  the  other  hand, 
it  will  need  to  pay  special  attention  to  the  stimulation 
of  those  who  in  civilized  countries  are  still  below  the 
standard  of  a  decent  living  wage.     No  civilization  can 
honestly  claim  to   be   high  in  which  a  relatively  large 
per  cent  of  its  population  is  below  the  level  of   fairly 
comfortable  subsistence.     Unskilled  labor  should  receive 
such  training  as   will   develop   intelligence   and   energy, 
and  at  the  same  time  supply  opportunities  for  economic 
and  cultural  advancement.     A  skilled  worker  should  re- 
ceive as  compensation   for  his  labor  an  amount  amply 
sufficient   for  the  comfortable  support   of   himself   and 
family  without  the  necessity   of   eking  out  an  income 


234  SOCIOLOGY 

by  the  additional  labor  of  wife  or  child.  These  changes 
should  not  come  as  concessions  from  master  to  man,  but 
as  the  result  of  joint  administration  of  a  common  in-  , 
dustry  in  which  owner  and  worker  have  common  inter- 
ests. Sociology,  basing  itself  on  historical  experience, 
sees  no  need  of  any  return  to  the  primitive  condition  of 
communal  property  or  a  system  of  equal  sharings,  but 
does  insist  on  the  supreme  importance  of  a  system  in 
which  every  person,  through  the  exercise  of  a  moderate 
amount  of  energy  and  intelligence,  may  have  the  oppor- 
tunity to  attain  a  fair  livelihood.  This  condition,  im- 
possible in  earlier  civilization,  becomes  possible  and  even 
inevitable  as  man  transforms  his  environment  by  his 
mastery  over  natural  forces. 

Economic  Production  and  Distribution. — The  social 
problem  may  further  be  illustrated  from  an  economic 
standpoint  by  considering  economic  activities  under  the 
three  usual  headings  of  production,,  distribution,  and 
consumption.  These  terms  apply  not  merely  to  foods  but 
to  anything  whatsoever  in  the  economic  world  that  can 
be  produced,  distributed,  and  consumed. 

A  primitive  horde  relying  entirely  on  natural  foods, 
obtained  without  the  use  of  tools  or  weapons,  can  not  be 
said  to  produce  at  all.  Nor  indeed  can  they  be  said  to 
form  a  society,  since  to  all  intents  they  are  merely  animal. 
But  when  the  horde  begins  to  manufacture  devices  and 
weapons  for  purposes  of  hunting  and  war,  and  tools 
as  aids  in  other  arts  involving  social  activities,  then  it 
becomes  definitely  a  producing  group.  Assuming  that 
it  produces  simply  for  its  own  needs  and  imports  nothing 
from  other  groups  it  is  self-sufficing,  and  whatever  dis- 
tribution and  consumption  there  is  takes  place  also  within 
the  group.     This  is  the  static  ideal,  praised  by  classic 


ECONOMIC  DEVELOPMENT  235 

philosophers  like  Aristotle  as  the  best  form  of  society  and 
formerly  exalted  by  the  Chinese  as  the  celestial  system. 

As  population  groups  multiply  and  come  in  contact  one 
with  another  it  becomes  increasingly  difficult  to  remain 
self-sufficing.  A  surplus  in  production  develops,  and 
though  it  may  at  first  be  simply  allowed  to  waste,  in 
process  of  time  such  surplus  products  are  passed  on  to 
neighboring  or  even  to  more  distant  groups,  in  exchange 
perhaps  for  other  goods  needed  at  home  but  in  excess 
elsewhere.  From  this  time  forth  social  energy  may  ex- 
pend itself  in  two  directions  :  (i)  in  deliberately  fostering 
the  production  of  surplus  products,  so  as  to  obtain  goods 
in  exchange,  and  (2)  in  broadening  out  and  developing 
means  and  methods  of  distribution,  so  as  to  facilitate 
exchange.  From  this  develop  the  processes  of  manu- 
facture, machinofacture,  and  commerce,  giving  an  im- 
mense stimulus  to  social  intercommunication,  so  neces- 
sary for  the  gro\\1;h  of  higher  civilization.  Socially 
speaking,  emphasis  on  distribution  is  much  more  im- 
portant than  on  production,  for  surplus  production  will 
take  care  of  itself  if  only  there  be  convenient  and  effi- 
cient avenues  for  distribution.  By  contrast,  an  emphasis 
on  production  to  the  neglect  of  means  of  distribution 
means  only  wastage  and  economic  loss. 

Social  Consumption. — Again,  from  the  social  view- 
point, consumption  is  obviously  the  most  important  of 
the  three  processes.  Men  produce  and  distribute  solely 
in  order  that  they  may  "consume,"  or  utilize,  the  goods 
produced  or  exchanged.  This  is  clearly  so  in  the  case  of 
foods,  the  fundamental  of  all  production  and  distribution, 
and  is  no  less  true  in  the  case  of  other  goods  utilized 
to  satisfy  the  demands  of  decency,  comfort,  and  luxury 
in  social  life.    Socially  speaking,  what  a  man  "consumes" 


236  SOCIOLOGY 

is  all  important.  If  the  return  to  the  average  man  for 
his  share  in  production  and  distribution  is  a  mere  pit- 
tance, a  bare  subsistence,  with  a  minimum  for  decency, 
the  civilization  of  his  group  is  low  in  grade.  In  other 
words,  the  average  standards  of  living  prevalent  in  so- 
cial groups  testify  to  the  quality  of  their  social  develop- 
ment and  grades  them  as  high  or  low.  Some  persons, 
to  be  sure,  may  so  misuse  their  incomes  through  ill- 
balanced  expenditures,  as  to  show  standards  of  living  in- 
ferior to  what  might  be  expected,  but  they  are  the  ex- 
ception, not  the  rule.  If  the  average  man  consumed 
wastefully,  civilization  to  that  extent  would  be  hindered 
or  even  rendered  decadent.  From  this  standpoint,  there- 
fore, the  real  aim  of  "social  economics"  should  be  to 
adopt  progressively  higher  standards  of  living,  so  as  to 
remove  the  average  man  from  the  plane  of  a  bare  sub- 
sistence wage  up  to  a  condition  in  which,  on  the  basis 
of  a  socially  decent  living  wage,  he  may  through  leisure 
aspire  to  share  in  the  higher  achievements  of  his  people. 
Social  consumption,  however,  is  dependent  on  an  in- 
creased social  production  and  a  fairer  social  distribution. 
In  other  words  social  interests  demand  ( i )  the  further- 
ance of  education,  science,  and  invention;  (2)  coopera- 
tive, unified  activity  in  production,  without  parasitism: 
and  (3)  a  just  distribution  of  the  goods  produced, 
without  exploitation  or  monopoly  on  the  part  of  a  favored 
few. 

Present  Economic  Trend. — It  is  likely  that  the  re- 
markable concentration  of  national  and  international 
energy  and  resources,  necessitated  by  the  world  war,  will 
have,  as  its  most  beneficial  result  in  due  time,  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  exploiting  and  monopolistic  systems  of  the  old 
regime  of  capitalism  and  the  substitution  of  a  more  fra- 


ECONOMIC  DEVELOPMENT  237 

ternal  and  equitable  system,  so  as  to  permit  the  develop- 
ment of  a  real  democracy  among  nations. 

Indications  of  these  tendencies  in  the  United  States  are 
already  quite  remarkable.  The  army  and  navy  are  be- 
coming great  educational  systems  for  the  development 
of  science,  skill,  and  unified  action.  The  great  industries 
and  the  systems  of  transportation,  developed  largely  along 
monopolistic  and  exploiting  lines,  were  for  war  purposes 
unified,  and  compelled  to  work  solely  for  national  aims, 
and  this  lesson  will  not  be  lost.  In  the  same  manner  re- 
ligious aims,  philanthropic  activity,  and  educational  sys- 
tems feel  the  necessity  of  radically  modifying  their  par- 
ticularistic methods  of  former  years,  so  as  to  devote  them- 
selves to  the  common  purpose  of  strengthening  the  ideals 
and  cultural  interests  of  national  civilization.  Some  sup- 
pose that  this  national  "omelet"  of  the  war  period  can  be 
"unscrambled"  and  a  return  made  to  former  conditions, 
but  such  expectations  are  entirely  fallacious.  Between 
the  new  and  the  old  a  synthesis  will  take  place  and  the 
ultimate  benefits  derived  therefrom  will,  in  the  United 
States  at  least,  far  outweigh  tlie  cost  of  the  war  in  life  and 
wealth. 


CHAPTER  XV 


THE  FAMILY' 


The  Primitive  Family  and  Kinship. — While  the 
family  is  usually  considered  as  the  unit  or  fundamental 
group  of  modern  society,  the  term  family  has  had  a  dif- 
ferent significance  at  different  times.  When  mankind  was 
emerging  from  animal  conditions  the  family  group  in- 
cluded in  the  horde  probably  consisted  simply  of  mother 
and  child  holding  closely  together  merely  during  the  help- 
less period  of  infancy.  The  mother  herself  presumably 
provided  for  and  protected  her  children,  who  as  they  ma- 
tured would  feel  a  sympathetic  connection  because  of  their 
descent  from  a  common  mother  and  the  common  life  in 
which  they  had  been  reared.  This  furnishes  the  basis  of 
the  so-called  matriarchal,  or  metronymic,  family  made  up 
of  a  mother,  her  children,  and  her  daughters'  children, 
forming  a  natural  kin.^     The  family  group  was  at  first 

*  See  the  author's  The  Family  in  its  Sociological  Aspects. 

'  Kinship  may  be  natural  or  artificial.  Natural  kinship  implies 
in  popular  opinion  the  possession  of  a  common  blood,  and  in  its 
primary  form  exists  between  parent  and  child,  or  among  children 
having  the  same  father  and  mother.  It  exists  in  a  secondary  form 
between  children  and  the  other  natural  kin  of  their  parents,  or  be- 
tween parents  and  the  descendants  of  their  children.  In  the  widest 
extent  of  the  word,  all  mankind  may  be  said  to  be  kin  on  the  as- 
sumption of  descent  from  an  original  pair;  or  under  evolutionary 
hypothesis  a  natural  kinship  may  be  said  to  exist  between  all  sentient 
life,  both  human  and  animal.  In  the  metronymic  period  kinship 
through  fathers  was  ignored,  just  as  kinship  through  mothers  was 
slighted  in  the  patronymic  period. 

Artificial  kinship  is  established  by  custom  or  by  law.  A  group 
may  traditionally  but  incorrectly  assume  descent  from  a  common 

238 


THE  FAMILY  239 

held  together  by  intuitive  sympathy,  but  at  a  later  stage 
human  reason  became  able  to  see  the  utility  of  kinship 
ties  in  the  formation  of  larger  groups  for  purposes  of 
hunting  and  defense.  From  that  time  forth  kinship  was 
recognized  as  a  social  bond,  and  regulations  of  marriage 
and  degrees  of  consanguinity  became  general  with  the 
passing  of  the  centuries. 

Conjugal  Relationships. — As  the  function  of  the  male 
in  generation  was  then  unknown,  fathers  as  such  were 
not  recognized  as  members  of  the  family,  maternal  uncles 
and  uterine  brothers  forming  the  male  kin  and  the  natural 
protectors  of  the  women  and  children.  By  the  time  of  the 
patriarchal,  or  patronymic,  period,  the  father's  share  in 
reproduction  had  become  known;  he  had  definitely  laid 
claim  to  kinship  with  his  children,  and  even  had  asserted 
his  belief  that  fatherhood  Avas  far  more  important  than 
motherhood.  Then  too,  as  wars  became  common,  wives 
were  readily  obtained  by  capture  or  purchase,  so  that 
the  husband  had  a  property  right  in  his  wives,  and  con- 
sequently in  their  children,  irrespective  of  fatherhood. 
Under  this  system  came  a  kinship  based  fundamentally 
on  male  descent  and  paternal  authority,  and  a  more  com- 
pact and  permanent  family  organization.  In  later  times, 
as  for  example  under  the  empire  in  Rome,  came  the  sys- 
tem of  tracing  kinship  through  double  descent,  and  this, 
now  justified  by  biological  knowledge  in  respect  to  the 
mammalian  ovum,  will  probably  remain  permanent,  and 

ancestor,  or  in  totemism  may  claim  kinship  through  relationship  to 
a  common  totem  considered  to  be  a  sort  of  ancestor.  Again,  arti- 
ficial ties  of  kinship  may  be  formed  by  marriage  or  by  adoption,  as, 
for  example,  in  the  legal  kinship  of  husband  and  wife  and  the  cus- 
tomary recognition  of  relations-in-law.  A  still  wider  form  of  arti- 
ficial kinship  may  be  illustrated  by  the  brotherhoods  of  religious 
orders  and  the  fraternities  of  social  organizations.  In  church 
relationship,  for  instance,  a  father  and  a  son  are  technically  broth- 
ers, both  being  sons  of  a  common  spiritual  Father. 


240  SOCIOLOGY 

children  be  considered  as  the  offspring  of  both  parents 
and  related  to  the  kin  of  each.  Artificial  kinship  arose 
by  claims  of  descent  from  a  common  fictitious  ancestor, 
as  in  totemism,  or  in  tribal  traditions,  and  by  adoption 
or  by  marriage,  the  last  two,  of  course,  being  well  recog- 
nized forms  of  kinship  to-day.  On  the  basis  of  real  or 
fictitious  kinships,  grew  slowly  recognition  of  tribal,  clan, 
and  national  kinship,  broadening  at  present  into  human- 
Itarianism,  or  a  recognition  of  the  essential  kinship  of 
the  entire  human  race. 

Sexual  connection  was  in  primitive  life  dictated  merely 
by  natural  instincts,  influenced  by  propinquity  and  pas- 
sion. Whether  marriage  was  polygamous,  polyandrous, 
or  monogamous,  temporary  or  permanent  in  form,  is  of 
small  moment.  For  sociological  purposes  the  nature  of 
the  relationship  is  of  no  consequence  until  it  became  a  so- 
cial one,  recognized  by  the  group,  and  involving  mutual 
rights  and  obHgations.  For  from  that  time  a  new  form 
of  kinship  was  recognized,  implied  in  the  marriage  tie 
between  husband  and  wife.  This  enlargement  of  the 
family  group  by  the  inclusion  of  the  husband  is  marked 
in  the  histories  of  primitive  marriage  by  the  rise  of  nu- 
merous regulations  of  the  status  of  marriage,  which 
henceforth  definitely  takes  its  place  as  a  social  institution. 
It  seems  evident,  moreover,  that  during  this  period  eco- 
nomic considerations  as  well  as  sexual  appetite  became 
a  factor  in  marriage.  The  woman  began  to  have  a  defi- 
nite economic  function  in  the  communal  group  as  the 
supplier  of  vegetable  food,  as  domestic  drudge,  and  as 
burden-bearer  on  the  march.  Her  proficiency  in  these 
respects,  therefore,  became  a  consideration  in  the  eyes  of 
her  suitors.  Women  captured  in  war  were  valuable  not 
simply  as  supplementary  wives  but  also  as  slaves  having 


THE  FAMILY  241 

a  definite  economic  value.  At  the  same  time  men  as 
hunters,  warriors,  and  shepherds  were  frequently  en- 
gaged in  warfare,  and  developed  thereby  an  aggressive, 
masterful,  and  bloodthirsty  disposition.  Under  such 
conditions  it  is  not  hard  to  see  that  women  as  slave-  or 
purchase-wives,  toiling  laboriously  within  the  inner  circle 
of  the  group,  would  tend  to  become  more  and  more  sub- 
ordinated to  the  males  who  were  expert  in  battle  and 
engaged  in  mentally  stimulating  occupations.  Hence  the 
free  mother  of  semi-human  existence  had  become  by  the 
time  of  the  agricultural  period  a  submissive  slave  to  her 
husband  and  master  and  was  characterized  by  the  natural 
slavish  qualities  of  patience,  endurance  under  suffering, 
and  passivity  in  matters  external  to  her  own  interests. 
This  inferior  place  she  still  holds  among  the  larger  part 
of  the  world's  population.  The  marriage  relation  is  still 
based  almost  entirely  on  sexual  passion  and  economic  con- 
siderations, and  in  the  family  economy  of  the  poor  the 
woman's  duty  is  that  of  field  hand  and  household  drudge, 
though  her  status  rises  in  importance  wherever  monogamy 
prevails,  since  her  lot  is  mitigated  by  her  undoubted  use- 
fulness and  by  the  possibility  of  ties  of  affection  within 
the  narrow*  family  circle.^ 

Kinship  and  marriage  would  be  in  sorry  condition  if 
this  were  the  end  of  social  development.  Fortunately  there 
is  another  aspect  to  be  emphasized.  This  may  be  explained, 
first,  by  the  gradual  refinement  of  sexual  relations  and, 
secondly,  by  a  rise  in  the  standards  of  family  affection. 

Refinement  in  Sex  Relationships. — The  prompting 
of  sexual  passion  in  animal  life  is   instinctive,  and  its 

'  For  interesting  studies  from  this  standpoint,  see  Eliza  B. 
Gamble,  The  Evolution  of  Women;  Ward,  Pure  Sociology,  Chap. 
XIV;  Thomas,  Sex  and  Society;  and  Anna  Garlin  Spencer's 
Women  and  Social  Culture, 


242  SOCIOLOGY 

indulgence  spontaneous  in  season.  When  the  intellect 
of  man  developed  sufficiently  to  enable  him  to  reflect  on 
his  desires,  sexual  indulgence  became  conscious,  artificial, 
excessive,  and  ceased  to  be  seasonal.  Then  came  social 
tabu  and  regulation,  aiming  to  check  the  evils  of  licen- 
tiousness that  threatened  to  sweep  av^ay  the  existence  of 
the  race.  These  involved  mainly  requirements  of  female 
chastity,  and  sterner  regulations  respecting  marriage  and 
divorce.  Civilization  has,  however,  unquestionably 
strengthened  the  intensity  of  male  sexual  passion,  by  re- 
moving him  from  the  harsh,  physical  conditions  of  sav- 
age life  with  the  primary  attention  given  to  the  procuring 
of  foods,  and  by  developing  in  him  a  sexual  imagination. 
A  civilization  dominated  by  males  has  been  in  consequence 
rather  half-hearted  and  unsuccessful  in  its  attempts  to 
regulate  sexual  irregularities  and  vices.  Great  religious 
teachers  have  done  their  best  to  set  up  high  standards 
of  sexual  ethics,  but  no  religious  system  can  boast  of 
much  success  in  results.  Sanctified  prostitution  (in  the 
East),  legalized  polygamy,  a  divorce  at  the  will  of  the 
male,  celibacy  enjoined  on  both  sexes,  and  a  tabu  on 
open  discussions  of  sexual  relations  seem  to  be  some  of 
the  evil  results  of  former  religious  teachings  on  sex  re- 
lationships. 

Sex  Passion  Essential. — Yet  little  by  little  religion 
and  science  have  been  drawing  together  on  the  matter 
and  begin  to  lay  increasing  emphasis  on  some  rather  im- 
portant teachings ;  namely,  that  sexual  passion  of  itself  is 
proper,  natural,  and  necessary  for  race  preservation; 
that  the  very  vigor  and  intensity  of  it  is  helpful  to  civiliza- 
tion since  it  gives  energy  and  ambition  to  the  man,  and 
grace  and  charm  to  the  woman;  but  that  indulgence  in 
sexual  passion  is  not  a  matter  to  be  decided  by  the  wish 


THE  FAMILY  243 

and  whim  of  the  individual,  or  even  by  the  dogma  of 
church  or  the  decree  of  law,  except  as  these  conform  to 
the  teachings  of  human  experience  scientifically  inter- 
preted. In  other  words,  society  must  increasingly  insist, 
as  its  standards,  that  every  individual  be  properly  trained 
in  scientific  teachings  in  respect  to  sexual  relations,  and 
that  persons  of  low  sexual  standards  must  rigidly  comply 
under  penalty  with  social  regulations  placed  on  sexual 
indulgence.  Freedom  of  contract  in  the  marriage  rela- 
tion would,  under  present  conditions,  result  in  licentious- 
ness. It  is  a  remote  ideal  suited  to  a  population  char- 
acterized by  self-control,  well  trained  to  regulate  their 
primary  instincts,  and  will  not  become  possible  until  in 
practice  it  would  amount  to  permanent  monogamy. 

Regulation  of  Marriage. — In  place  of  the  absolute  free- 
dom demanded  by  extreme  radicalism  might  better  be  em- 
phasized a  stricter  regulation  of  socially  injurious  mar- 
riages, extending  in  many  cases  even  to  prohibition.  Pub- 
lic opinion  intelligently  informed  and  directed  through 
moral  agencies  should  make  impossible  the  marriage  of 
those  physically,  mentally,  and  morally  defective.  At- 
tention should  be  directed  more  and  more  away  from  a 
purely  individualistic  theory  of  marriage  for  personal 
pleasure,  to  a  view  of  it  as  involving  racial  consequences. 
In  place  of  ancestor  worship  might  well  come  a  sort  of 
worship  of  posterity,  so  that  persons  might  take  the 
same  pride  in  providing  capable  offspring  for  future 
generations,  as  some  do  now  in  tracing  their  descent  from 
illustrious  ancestors. 

Woman's  Influence.— The  modern  movement  in  the 
direction  of  higher  sexual  morality  has  come  about  large- 
ly through  woman's  influence.  Its  beginnings,  of  course, 
date  far  back  in  human  history  w'hen  standards  of  vir- 


244  SOCIOLOGY 

tue  arose  through  requirements  of  female  chastity.  Slav- 
ery and  the  practice  of  polygamy  by  the  leisure  class,  who 
thereby  monopolized  surplus  women,  strangely  enough, 
helped  on  the  cause  of  virtue  by  accustoming  the  great 
mass  of  mankind  to  monogamy,  a  form  of  marriage  in 
which  women  naturally  acquire  a  greater  influence  than 
under  polygamy.  Roman  law  and  early  Christianity  also 
helped  matters  by  emphasis  on  woman's  dignity  and 
equality ;  the  church  honored  modierhood  by  its  emphasis 
on  the  Madonna;  chivalry  in  its  turn  tended  to  idealize 
women  as  a  spiritualizing  influence  in  social  life;  and 
the  standards  of  chivalry  and  Christianity  became  com- 
mon through  the  prestige  of  church  and  knight  and 
through  social  pressure  and  control. 

The  great  movement  of  the  Eighteenth  Century  toward 
human  equality  had  a  profound  effect  on  woman's  status, 
since  from  that  time  agitation  for  woman's  rights  defi- 
nitely started.*  Such  rights  are  only  incidentally  political, 
agitation  for  which  has  dwarfed  other  movements,  some 
of  which  are  relatively  more  important  and  will  receive 
attention  with  the  coming  of  women's  suffrage.  Wom- 
an's rights  are  based  on  a  demand  for  the  development 
and  expression  of  her  personality  and  properly  include 
such  demands  as  that  for  higher  education,  for  freedom 
to  enter  economic  life  if  necessary,  for  control  over  her 
own  children  and  her  own  property,  for  a  larger  social 
life  than  the  narrow  circle  of  domestic  routine,  and  for 
the  rights  of  free  choice  in  marriage  and  of  maintaining 
her  self-respect  in  marriage  by  control  over  sexual  re- 
lations, even  to  the  extent  of  demanding  divorce  in  last 
resort.     This  great  movement  toward  women's  equality 

*  Mary    Wollstonecraft's    book    on    The    Rights    of    Women   was 
Issued  in   1796. 


THE  FAMILY  245 

is  already  producing  marked  changes  in  social  life,  and 
is  one  of  the  powerful  factors  in  improving  the  moral 
relations  of  the  sexes  and  in  the  elimination  of  the  grosser 
forms  of  sexual  vice.  Unquestionably  another  century 
of  progress  in  this  direction  will  help  greatly  to  purify  the 
moral  atmosphere  of  social  life,  since  women  will  insist 
that  the  standards  of  sexual  ethics  shall  apply  to  both 
sexes  alike. 

Rise  in  Standards  of  Family  Affection. — This  im- 
provement in  social  standards  can  be  made  clearer  by 
noting  the  changes  in  the  relations  between  husband  and 
wife.  As  already  explained,  the  freer  marriage  of  early 
civilization  was  followed  by  the  sexual  and  economic 
slavery  of  women  under  patriarchal  civilization.  Even 
under  such  conditions  there  were  influences  at  work  that 
slowly  helped  to  elevate  the  position  of  women.  A  really 
capable  woman,  economically  speaking,  was  worthy  of 
respect  and  even  honor. ^  Again,  the  males  of  a  leisure 
class  demanded  in  their  wives  beauty  and  accomplish- 
ments, and  women  so  favored  had  great  power.  Women 
as  well  as  men  inherit  from  their  parents  intellectual 
capacity,  and  wherever  they  have  had  opportunities  to 
develop  this,  through  access  to  a  stimulating  environment 
the  benefits,  social  and  domestic,  have  invariably  been 
large. 

Again,  the  influence  of  women  in  modern  times  is  set 
steadily  against  polygamy  or  any  system  that  allows  to 
the  husband  a  larger  freedom  in  sexual  relationships  than 
he  is  willing  to  allow  to  his  wife.  Monogamy,  a  form 
of  marriage  forced  on  slave  and  peasant  populations 
by  necessity,  became  to  woman  the  ideal  form  of  mar- 
riage because  of  the  larger  equality  she  obtained  in  that 

*  See  e.g.  Proverbs  xxxi,  10-31. 


246  SOCIOLOGY 

system,  and  this  ideal  became  fixed  in  the  standards  of 
enterprising,  progressive  races.  All  influences  combined 
developed  in  advanced  civilization  some  men  of  nobler 
quality  who  began  to  hold  a  different  attitude  toward 
women.  Sexual  and  economic  values  relatively  dimin- 
ished in  importance,  and  an  idealizing  tendency  devel- 
oped. In  the  age  of  chivalry,  and  again  through  the 
romanticism  of  the  Eighteenth  Century,  the  lover  began 
to  look  upon  his  mistress  as  the  inspirer  of  activity,  a 
wise  counselor,  the  charm  of  existence,  a  sympathetic 
friend,  and  loving  companion.  The  relationship  in  other 
words  became  idealized  through  the  higher  emotions  and 
intellectual  appreciation,  so  that  the  purest  form  of  monog- 
amy became  possible,  namely,  the  permanent  union  of 
two  persons  of  opposite  sex,  harmonizing  with  and  sup- 
plementing each  other.  In  higher  civilization,  therefore, 
courtship  and  marriage  are  characterized  by  emphasis 
on  friendship  and  a  romanticism,  which,  though  based 
on  sexual  passion,  calls  into  lively  exercise  the  higher 
moral  and  cesthetic  feelings.^ 

Ideals  in  Sex  Morality. — When  such  conditions  exist 
sexual  morality  rises  to  its  highest  pitch.  Infidelity  even 
in  thought  becomes  abhorrent,  and  sexual  passion,  guided 
and  subordinated  by  idealism,  becomes  a  servant  and  not 
a  master.  Undoubtedly  as  women  free  themselves  from 
the  handicaps  still  placed  by  society  on  their  higher  de- 
velopment, the}^  with  their  greater  sensitiveness  and  moral 
idealism,  will  insist  on  higher  standards  in  their  suitors 
and  husbands,  thus  by  elimination  of  the  unfit  gradually 
raising  the  standards  of  sexual  morality.  Since  males  as 
well  as  females  can  be  trained  to  high  sex-morality,  the 

'  See  Henry  T.  Finck,  Romantic  Love  and  Personal  Beauty,  and 
Ward's  Pure  Sociology,  pp.  390-415. 


THE  FAMILY  247 

social  ideal  of  sex-ethics  should  become  a  common  stand- 
ard demanded  from  and  rigidly  applied  to  both  sexes. 

The  Permanent  Monogamous  Marriage. — This 
ideal  of  a  permanent  monogamous  marriage  is  in  prac- 
tice far  from  common,  and  yet  the  fact  that  it  is  fre- 
quently attained  indicates  that  ultimately  it  will  become 
the  favored  type,  if  cultural  civilization  continues  to 
develop.  Religion  and  law  in  Christendom  both  assume 
the  existence  of  such  a  standard  of  marriage  at  present, 
even  though  sexual  irregularities,  both  legal  and  illegal, 
are  rife.  Such  irregularities  were  once  supported  or  con- 
doned by  public  opinion,  but  for  centuries  society  has  in- 
sisted on  at  least  outward  conformity  to  social  standards 
of  marriage.  In  order  to  facilitate  this,  marriage  and 
divorce  are  sometimes  made  flexible,  as  in  the  United 
States,  so  that  one  may  enter  or  leave  the  marriage  state 
at  small  cost  and  with  comparative  ease.  If  this  were 
not  done  under  present  conditions  of  sex-morality,  illegit- 
imate connections  of  all  sorts  would  of  necessity  multiply. 
Toward  the  ideal  of  a  permanent  monogamous  mar- 
riage men  must  strive  by  means  of  telic  cultural  develop- 
ment. As  this  grows,  our  present  concessions  to  human 
weakness  will  disappear  one  by  one,  and  regulations  of 
the  marriage  tie  will  grow  fewer  in  number.  The  trend, 
therefore,  will  be  in  the  direction  of  mutual  freedom  of 
contract  and  mutual  freedom  within  the  marriage  rela- 
tion, but  a  freedom  that  will  guide  itself  to  meet  the  ap- 
proval and  sanction  of  an  intelligent  public  opinion,  voic- 
ing the  ideals  of  a  strongly  ethical  civilization. 

Kinship  Ties. — A  similar  development  may  be  ob- 
served in  the  fundamental  kinship  ties  within  the  family. 
The  natural  animal  relationship  between  mother  and 
child  invariably  ends  with  the  weaning  or  the  maturity 


248  SOCIOLOGY 

of  the  offspring.  But  as  social  organization  develops 
through  growing  intellectual  capacity,  the  tie  endures 
longer  and  passes  from  an  instinctive  affection  to  one 
founded  on  the  higher  emotions  and  the  reason.  Espe- 
cially is  this  true  while  both  remain  under  the  same  roof. 
This  proximity  tends  to  develop  affection  through  the 
developed  harmony  of  common  habits,  interests,  and 
aims.  Daily  intimate  contact  also  develops  among  the 
other  members  of  the  family  group  a  conventional  bond 
of  affection  which  the  reason  strengthens  by  motives  of 
economic  interest,  domestic  comfort,  and  mutual  help- 
fulness. When  the  father  also  claimed  his  place  in  the 
family  circle,  he  likewise  shared  in  the  affection  of  the 
family  group,  though  paternal  love  did  not  attain  the 
depth  and  fervor  of  maternal  devotion.  His  assertion  of 
ownership  and  kinship,  however,  tended  to  center  his 
interests  on  the  economic  and  general  welfare  of  the  house- 
hold, so  that  the  child  began  to  have  the  fostering  care  of 
both  parents,  although  in  patriarchal  civilization  the 
father  gave  his  male  offspring  a  disproportionate  amount 
of  attention  to  the  neglect  of  his  daughters. 

Maternal  Ignorance. — The  most  serious  defect  in 
the  organization  of  the  patriarchal,  or  even  of  the  modern 
family,  arises  from  maternal  ignorance.  Under  polyg- 
amy and  economic  monogamy  the  mother  is  a  mere  in- 
strument of  sexual  pleasure  or  economic  service  to  the 
husband,  and  consequently  her  training  of  offspring  is 
instinctive  and  traditional,  but  lacks  the  elements  that  can 
arise  only  when  mothers  are  intelligently  trained  and  in- 
fluential in  cultural  advancement.  Race  progress  is  in- 
timately involved  with  the  quality  of  child-training,  and 
civilization  is  always  retarded  by  a  failure  to  emphasize 
intelligence  and  idealism  as  a  prerequisite  condition  for 


THE  FAMILY  249 

those  in  charge  of  child  culture.  There  can  be  little  hope 
for  rapid  social  progress  as  long  as  leisure  classes  confide 
their  children  to  the  care  of  ignorant  servants,  and  the 
mass  of  mothers  are  kept  from  cultural  training  and  com- 
pelled to  devote  their  energies  chiefly  to  household  drudg- 
ery and  economic  occupations,  leaving  their  children  to 
the  well-meaning  but  wretchedly  paid  and  largely  un- 
skilled teaching  of  our  graded  and  ungraded  schools. 
When  society  learns  to  educate  its  citizens,  so  that  they 
will  become  intelligent  enough  to  train  their  children 
wisely;  when  it  frowns  alike  on  the  excessively  large 
family  of  the  poor  and  the  childless  family  of  leisure; 
there  will  be  hope  that  each  generation  may  make  rapid 
advance  over  its  predecessor. 

Family  Ideals. — Movements  in  this  direction  are 
noteworthy.  Conventional  affection  is  weakened  almost 
to  the  vanishing  point  by  long-continued  absence,  but  out 
of  the  natural,  instinctive  affection  of  parent  and  child, 
supplemented  by  ties  of  social  interests,  arises  a  higher 
form  of  kinship  affection  into  which  enter  the  ideals  of 
life.  The  mother  loves  the  child  of  her  imagination,  the 
idealization  of  what  she  desires  her  child  to  be;  the  father 
looks  hopefully  forward  to  those  who  will  carry  on  the 
ambitions  of  his  life  and  bring  honor  to  the  family  name. 
In  the  same  manner  the  lover  sees  in  his  mistress  the  per- 
fection of  all  womanly  qualities,  just  as  he  may  seem  to 
her  to  be  the  personification  of  manly  virtue.  This  ideal- 
izing affection  may  really  grow  in  absence  or  be  renewed, 
as  the  imagination  is  not  checked  by  the  prosaic  experi- 
ences of  daily  contact.  When  developed,  it  becomes  the 
highest  form  of  domestic  affection  yet  attained  by  human 
kind,  enduring  in  sickness,  misfortune,  and,  even  in  spite 
of  sin  and  degradation,  often  cheerfully  giving  its  energy 


250  SOCIOLOGY 

and  life  for  the  sake  of  Its  object.  In  its  expanded  form 
beyond  the  family  it  becomes  altruism,  missionary  zeal, 
patriotism,  or  devotion  to  truth  and  to  the  teachings  of 
one's  conscience,  and  these  ideals  become  endeared  by 
personifying-  them  as  members  of  the  family.  A  man 
finds  inspiration  by  loving  his  fafJicrland,  his  mother 
country,  his  alma  mater,  his  Father  in  heaven  and  his 
brothers  In  the  slums  or  in  heathen  lands.  For  these 
reasons  sociological  theory  teaches  that  on  the  foundation 
of  sexual  passion  and  domestic  affection,  should  be  de- 
veloped, especially  during  the  period  of  adolescence  and 
early  maturity,  the  emotional  ideals  of  the  race,  such  as 
the  higher  forms  of  filial,  conjugal,  and  parental  affec- 
tion, love  for  country  and  manhood,  and  devotion  to 
honor,  virtue,  beauty,  and  truth. 

Telle  Improvement  in  the  Family. — A  comparative 
study  of  domestic  institutions  brings  the  conviction  that 
the  family  as  a  social  Institution  is  still  moving  toward  a 
stage  of  higher  development.  Even  the  evils  so  manifest 
to-day  are  less  intense  and  far  less  brutal  than  in  former 
periods  of  civilization,  and  though  they  still  form  a  power- 
ful hindrance  to  physical  and  cultural  development,  they 
are  such  as  can  be  removed  by  scientific  foresight.  This 
telle  idea  is  rapidly  growing,  and  constructive  plans  for 
building  up  domestic  morality  are  taking  the  place  of 
older  emphasis  on  prohibitions  and  restrictions  based  on 
ignorance.  If  society  would  give  less  attention  to  its 
prohibitions  in  sexual  matters.  If  it  would  waste  fewer 
tears  on  the  sexual  depravity  of  the  male,  and  devote  it- 
self earnestly  to  positive  movements  for  raising  the  tone 
of  the  home,  giving  to  its  children  a  thorough  education 
in  scientific  knowledge  of  sex  hygiene,  it  might  pass  much 
more  rapidly  than  one  would  suppose,  to  a  condition  of 


THE  FAMILY  251 

civilization  where  sexual  perversity  would  be  abnormal 
enough  to  insure  its  incarceration  in  asylums. 

Changes  in  Woman's  Status. — It  is  likely  that  the 
ending  of  the  world  war  favorably  to  the  allied  states 
marks  a  definite  turning  point  in  woman's  history.  Her 
services  were  so  clearly  useful  in  the  national  crises  which 
came  upon  the  nations,  that  suffrage  rights  were  granted 
to  her  as  a  matter  of  course  quite  generally  throughout 
the  warring  nations,  and  the  others  will  fall  in  line  in 
due  time. 

Women  with  ballots  in  their  hands  will  take  their  new 
responsibilities  seriously  and  unquestionably  will  devote 
early  attention  to  the  evil  conditions  that  environ  family 
life.  One  may  anticipate  that  home  standards  of  decency 
and  morality  will  gradually  enlarge  and  become  urban, 
state-wide,  and  national  in  their  scope.  Presumably  at 
first  attacks  will  be. made  against  vicious  housing  condi- 
tions, the  slums,  and  the  labor  of  children,  against  im- 
moral amusements  that  coarsen  and  debauch  onlookers, 
and  against  the  prostitution  of  women  and  the  greatest 
curse  of  modern  times — the  black  plague. 

But  in  later  years  her  policies  will  lay  stress  on  the 
more  constructive  aspects  of  social  progress ;  on  the  need 
for  a  larger  wage,  a  better  education,  and  a  demand  for 
the  refining  influence  of  the  aesthetic  in  civic  development. 
Through  woman's  larger  freedom  of  choice  in  marriage, 
less  influenced  by  economic  considerations,  the  min  of 
poor  mentality  and  unregulated  passions  will  gradually  be 
blacklisted,  boycotted,  and  eliminated  from  society  in  due 
process  of  time.  The  idealism  of  woman  will  demand 
higher  standards  in  men  and  through  intelligent  educa- 
tion she  will  see  to  it  that  the  father  of  her  children  is  a 
worthy  mate  who  conforms  to  the  single  standard  of 


252  SOCIOLOGY 

chastity.  Undoubtedly  woman's  coming  freedom  to  de- 
termine marriage  choices  will  do  more  to  upbuild  civiliza- 
tion than  any  other  one"  factor. 

Civilization  will  cease  to  be  "man-made,"  and  will  be 
developed  by  the  united  efforts  of  both  sexes,  and  the 
more  rapidly,  as  the  newer  social  environment  begins 
to  call  forth  the  latent  talent  so  poorly  developed  as  yet 
in  the  average  male  and  so  long  dormant  in  women,  be- 
cause of  their  former  condition  of  subordination  and 
quasi-servitude.  The  Twentieth  Century  is  seeing  the 
dawn  of  a  new  day  and  the  modern  family  will  benefit 
greatly  from  its  newer  "place  in  the  sun." 


CHAPTER  XVI 


THE  POLITICAL  INSTITUTION 


Beginnings  of  the  State. — The  state  is  the  chief  in- 
stitution through  which  society  carries  on  its  functions. 
Originally  this  was  not  so  true  as  now,  since  in  former 
ages  other  institutions,  such  as  those  of  the  family  and 
religion,  competed  with  it  for  supremacy.  Yet  the  state 
in  its  simple  beginnings  as  a  war-band  had  a  real  im- 
portance, and  finally  won  in  competition  because  of  the 
prevalence  of  war  and  through  the  need  of  an  umpire 
with  power  to  enforce  decisions  in  times  of  domestic 
turmoil.  The  modern  state  is  a  political  unity  having 
sovereignty,  regulating  and  controlling,  as  it  does,  all 
matters  of  political  importance.  Such  a  notion,  however, 
would  have  been  incomprehensible  to  primitive  man.  He 
merely  knew  that  for  safety's  sake  it  was  a  good  thing 
for  him  to  combine  with  companions  for  offense  or  de- 
fense, and  that  he  would  get  a  larger  share  of  food  if 
he  hunted  in  combination  with  them.  The  hunting-band 
and  the  war-band,  however,  are  the  ancestors  of  the 
state,  representing  social  cooperation  for  the  two  chief 
functions  of  government,  namely,  military  and  economic 
activities.  In  these  organizations,  too,  we  have  the  fun- 
damental elements  of  the  state :  within  the  band  there  is 
the  authority  or  sovereignty  of  the  leader,  or  leaders  in 
combination;  there  is  a  notion  of  law  in  the  command 

*  See  the  author's  The  State  and  Government. 

253 


254  SOCIOLOGY 

of  the  chief  and  in  the  customs  of  war  and  hunting; 
and  there  is  a  common  unity,  rince  all  members  of  the 
group  were  combined  for  the  purpose  of  general  welfare. 
Intercourse  between  hordes  was  regulated  by  a  fairly 
definite  mode  of  procedure,  the  beginnings  of  diplomacy 
and  international  law.  Permanency,  which  was  lacking 
in  savage  hordes,  came  in  later  years  to  characterize  the 
group,  as  communal  interests  became  solidified  through 
the  growing  complexity  of  social  relations  and  through 
possession  of  a  common  hunting  ground  to  be  defended, 
if  necessary,  by  main  strength. 

The  State  of  the  Patriarchal  Period. — The  next 
really  important  development  in  political  organization 
came  in  the  patriarchal  period.  At  that  time  society,  or- 
ganized economically  for  grazing  and  farming  purposes, 
fused  the  old-time  organizations  for  war  and  industry 
into  a  common  organization  with  family  and  religious 
institutions,  making  the  clan,  or  in  some  cases  the  tribe 
or  combination  of  related  clans,  a  compact  organization 
with  differentiated  functions,  ruled  by  its  elders  as  gov- 
ernmental chiefs.  The  clan  or  the  tribe  was  a  body  of 
kinsmen  organized  at  once  for  war,  for  industry,  and 
for  the  observance  of  common  religious  rites.  Race 
struggle,  conquest,  subjection,  and  slow  amalgamation 
and  assimilation  marked  this  period.  Out  of  this  fusion 
of  races  and  civilizations  came  three  great  institutions 
that  profoundly  affected  political  development :  private 
property,  a  leisure  class  headed  by  a  king,  and  the  law 
of  the  state.  The  rise  of  private  property  involved  a 
growing  need  to  regulate  conflicting  claims  to  property, 
and  to  settle  the  custom  to  be  observed  in  respect  to  in- 
heritance. The  rise  of  a  leisure  class  meant  that  a  privi- 
leged set  of  persons  henceforth  monopolized  the  wealth 


THE  POLITICAL  INSTITUTION  255 

and  governmental  power  of  society,  held  all  offices  of 
importance,  and  asserted  its  right  to  determine  the  law 
of  the  land,  to  exercise  jurisdiction  in  cases  arising  under 
the  law,  and  to  fix  the  status  of  aliens,  slaves,  and  citizens. 

The  State  as  a  Matured  Institution. — When  these 
three  great  institutions  had  definitely  developed,  the  state 
as  a  unit  was  fully  matured,  presenting  the  essential  fea- 
tures of  modern  states,  and  prepared  to  win  for  itself 
supremacy  in  social  control.  There  were,  to  be  sure, 
changes  within  the  three  institutions  such  that  the  spirit 
of  government  necessarily  had  to  change  from  time  to 
time,  but  the  idea  of  the  state  remained  practically  the 
same,  irrespective  of  functional  and  structural  differenti- 
ations. These  changes  are  familiar  facts  of  history — the 
power  of  the  state  in  exercise  may  oscillate  between  king, 
nobility,  or  people ;  the  form  of  government  may  be  au- 
tocratic, aristocratic,  feudalistic,  or  democratic ;  property 
may  incline  toward  communal  or  individual  ownership, 
and  consist  chiefly  of  land  or,  on  the  other  hand,  of  capi- 
tal; law  may  be  merely  enforced  custom,  or  it  may  be 
subject  to  change  and  amendment  by  the  ruling  classes 
or  representative  assemblies.  Social  functions  considered 
as  apart  from  governmental  jurisdiction  are  performed 
indifferently  by  family,  church,  or  social  group,  accord- 
ing to  custom  or  the  necessities  of  the  occasion. 

Distinctions  of  Class  and  Caste. — Government  in 
its  earlier  stages  emphasized  integration  and  centraliza- 
tion, not  expansion  and  differentiation.  Conflicting  prop- 
erty rights,  disputes  over  legal  privileges,  and  the  need 
of  a  vigorous  organization  for  military  and  industrial 
purposes,  all  assisted  in  the  development  of  a  governmen- 
tal organization  centered  in  a  ruling  aristocracy,  main- 
taining its  power  by  subordinating  inferior  and  conquered 


256  SOCIOLOGY 

races  through  exploiting  and  predatory  methods.  The 
more  vigorous  the  need,  the  firmer  was  the  attempt  to 
separate  by  hard  and  fast  Hnes  the  gradations  of  social 
ranks  within  the  community.  The  leading  class  accom- 
plished this  by  insisting  on  its  divine  or  noble  origin  as 
against  basely  born  classes  below  it,  by  monopolizing 
civil  and  religious  power  and  landed  wealth,  and  by  pro- 
hibition of  intermarriage  betwjeen  classes.  Such  dis- 
tinctions, at  first  enforced  by  violence,  later  became  set 
by  custom,  hedged  about  by  divine  sanctions,  and  identi- 
fied with  the  will  of  the  gods.  In  this  way  developed 
caste  systems,  even  yet  common  in  India,  and  partly  re- 
tained in  Western  civilization,^  though  they  tend  to  merge 
into  class  distinctions  based  on  wealth  or  intellectual  at- 
tainment. Village  communities  controlled  by  a  village 
lord  and  feudalism  are  the  natural  outgrowths  of  this  sys- 
tem of  landed  aristocracy  and  may  result,  according  to 
conditions,  either  in  a  loosely  organized  confederation  of 
equal  or  partly  equal  districts,  or  through  growth  of 
common  interests  may  develop  into  a  compact  empire  of 
confederated  provinces  more  or  less  firmly  united  accord- 
ingly to  the  capacity  of  its  ruling  class  or  the  pressure  of 
rival  nations.  These  are  the  natural  and  genetic  gov- 
ernmental types  of  an  aristocratic  state  founded  on  patri- 
archal vocations,  and  developed  by  numerous  wars  of 
conquest. 

The  Influence  of  Commerce. — The  next  stage  of 
development  is  brought  about  by  the  growth  of  com- 
merce, domestic  and  foreign.  This  implies  manufac- 
tures for  export  purposes,  good  roads,  improved  methods 
of  transportation,  the  rise  of  cities,  greater  knowledge, 
and  the  readjustment  of  class  lines  on  the  basis  of  other 

'Royal  families,  for  instance,  practically  form  a  caste. 


THE  POLITICAL  INSTITUTION  257 

forms  of  wealth  than  land.  Under  such  conditions  caste 
distinctions  tend  to  fade  away,  and  instead  of  the  noble 
and  the  warrior,  the  capitalist  and  the  merchant  become 
important.  This  change  implies  the  rise  of  the  third  es- 
tate,^ and  a  movement  toward  oligarchy  and  democracy, 
since  a  larger  class  of  citizens  become  interested  in  gov- 
ernmental stability,  and  new  men  constantly  push  to  the 
front,  so  as  to  secure  the  interests  of  their  wealthy  and 
intelligent  plebeian  friends  engaged  in  commerce  and 
manufactures.  Commercial  civilization  tends  naturally  to 
expand,  so  as  to  seek  new  markets.  This  expansion  may 
take  place  peaceably  through  trading  posts  or  coloniza- 
tion, as  in  the  case  of  the  Phoenicians  and  the  Greeks,  or 
may  be  predatory  or  warlike  in  character,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  Romans.  In  Rome  the  imperialistic  idea  reached 
its  maximum  as  a  type  of  world  state,  not  made  up  of 
loosely  confederated  parts,  but  centering  control  in  the 
capital  by  systematically  subordinating  the  economic  in- 
terests of  the  provinces,  and  slowly  assimilating  the  mass 
of  population  through  a  common  civil  law  and  the  usual 
methods  of  legal  and  social  control.  It  was  Rome  that 
first  developed  a  flexible  legal  system,  by  emphasis  on 
procedure  and  by  telic  modifications  in  the  content  of  the 
law  brought  about  by  codification,  edict,  commentary,  and 
interpretation.  The  Roman  legal  system  still  furnishes 
the  basis  for  much  of  the  law  of  Western  civilization 
along  with  the  Anglo-Saxon  system  of  jurisprudence, 
just  as  its  imperialism  remained  the  pattern  for  Europe 
down  to  the  Nineteenth  Century.* 

*The  equites  of  Rome,  the  bourgeoisie  of  France  or  the  middle 
class  of  England. 

*  For  brief  studies  of  these  topics,  note  James  Bryce,  The  Holy 
Roman  Empire,  1904,  revised  edition  and  Wm.  C.  Morey,  Outlines 
of  Roman  Lqzv. 


2S8  SOCIOLOGY 

Commerce  Is  Favorable  to  Democracy. — Com- 
merce, with  its  adjunct  manufactures,  regularly  tends  to 
favor  a  democratic  trend  in  social  relations.  Its  great 
demand  is  that  there  be  men  who  are  intelligent,  free  from 
restricting  beliefs,  and  willing  to  break  away  from  cus- 
tom whenever  necessary.  Constant  intercourse  with  other 
races  tends  also  to  foster  liberalism  in  customs  and  be- 
liefs, and  to  favor  a  sort  of  cosmopolitanism,  instead  of 
a  narrow  tribal  prejudice.  This  development,  however, 
may  be  true  chiefly  of  those  engaged  in  the  larger  aspects 
of  trade  and  commerce,  the  mass  of  population,  still  en- 
gaged in  agriculture,  may  remain  steeped  in  conservatism 
and  fearful  of  the  liberalism  of  the  cities,  so  that  there 
can  be  no  permanent  commercial  success  unless  there  is 
general  intelligence  throughout  the  whole  population.  But 
as  men  become  free,  liberal,  and  intelligent  they  become 
democratic  in  their  relations  one  with  another  and,  there- 
fore, a  democratic  trend  in  a  social  organization  founded 
on  a  broadening  commerce  is  inevitable. 

Growth  of  the  Powers  of  the  State. — The  trend 
toward  democracy  can  best  be  observed  historically  by 
noting  the  changes  taking  place  in  patriarchal  civilization 
as  the  new  economic  system  creeps  in.  The  governmental 
aspect  of  society  slowly  gains  power  at  the  expense  of 
the  other  social  institutions;  the  state  assumes  the  right 
to  regulate  inheritances,  kinship,  marriage  and  divorce, 
and  rights  over  children;  it  subordinates  the  ecclesiastical 
organization  to  the  political  by  controlling  its  property 
rights  and,  to  some  extent,  its  offices  and  its  creed.  It 
successfully  competes  with  the  church  in  provisions  for 
education  and  philanthropy,  it  fosters  economic  interests, 
and  develops  a  system  of  taxation  as  recompense.  It 
poses  as  the  friend  of  morals,  art,  and  philosophy  and 


THE  POLITICAL  INSTITUTION  259 

thereby  wins  the  support  of  the  leaders  of  these  great 
social  agencies.  In  this  way  the  state  wins  the  right  as 
against  other  institutions  to  dictate  the  conditions  of 
social  life  and  to  act  as  final  arbiter  in  all  disputes.  When 
this  stage  is  attained,  sovereignty  may  well  be  defined 
as  supreme  authority,  since  the  state  has  become  the 
dominant  institution  of  society.  There  is  an  obvious 
advantage  in  this  development  if  government  is  demo- 
cratically organized,  since  as  all  social  functions  are  sub- 
ject theoretically  to  a  central  organization,  conflicting 
policies  are  thereby  eliminated. 

The  Class  Struggle. — Under  the  old  system  of 
autocratic  or  oligarchic  government  this  supremacy  of 
the  state  might  prove  dangerous,  since  the  dominant  of- 
fice-holding class  would  naturally  be  tempted  to  exploit 
other  classes,  checked  as  it  would  be  only  by  the  fear  of 
factional  disputes  of  rival  claimants  for  power.  But  when 
the  claims  of  a  dominant  class  are  disputed  by  other 
classes,  who  also  have  important  interests  to  conserve, 
minor  factional  differences  become  merged  into  a  class 
struggle,  which  in  modern  times  voices  itself  through 
political  parties.  Historically  parties  may  be  traced  (i) 
as  factional  struggles  within  a  dominant  class,  such  as 
dynastic  wars,  (2)  struggles  for  supremacy  between  two 
opposing  institutions  typified  by  the  historic  struggle  of 
church  and  state,  and  (3)  struggles  between  conflicting 
economic  interests  such  as  a  land  interest  as  opposed  to 
a  commercial-manufacturing  interest,  or  capitalistic  claims 
as  opposed  to  those  of  an  interest-paying,  wage-earning 
class.  These  fundamental  interests  supply  basic  prin- 
ciples for  political  parties,  which  in  modern  governmental 
systems  usually  fight  out  their  disputes  at  the  polls 
through  the  ballot,  instead  of  by  the  ancient  methods  of 


26o  SOCIOLOGY 

insurrection  and  rebellion.  This  more  peaceable  method 
of  settling  difficulties  places  in  possession  of  government 
a  resultant  of  all  conflicting  interests,  and  this  by  mutual 
compromise  seeks  to  merge  them  all  into  a  great  na- 
tional policy.  Under  such  conditions  It  is  easy  to  see 
why  the  functions  of  a  government  democratically  organ- 
ized multiply  so  enormously.  If  a  class  controls,  or  a 
special  interest,  it  is  always  afraid  to  broaden  the  sphere 
of  its  activity,  because  it  would  multiply  thereby  the 
antagonism  of  unrepresented  interests  whose  privileges 
are  being  interfered  with.  But  when  practically  all  classes 
and  parties  are  represented,  the  government  may  go  far 
in  the  direction  of  regulation  and  "interference,"  with- 
out dread  of  rebellion. 

Aristocracy  Becoming  Democracy. — The  process 
whereby  modern  democracy  succeeds  an  aristocratic  sys- 
tem may  briefly  be  indicated  as  follows :  king,  nobility, 
and  special  classes  lose  little  by  little  their  important, 
peculiar  prerogatives,  retaining,  if  anything  at  all,  the 
mere  shadow  of  their  former  power,  which,  through  pop- 
ular agitation  and  revolution,  passes  slowly  down  from 
class  to  class  until  all  theoretically  share  in  rights  and 
privileges.  Monopolies  and  special  privileges,  for  in- 
stance, in  land,  mines,  and  economic  opportunities  are 
stoutly  resisted  and  slowly  become  public  or  are  thrown 
open  to  general  competition.  Governmental  offices  and 
honorable  occupations  of  all  sorts  cease  to  be  preroga- 
tives of  the  nobility,  and  all  citizens  become  eligible  to 
them.  An  opportunity  to  obtain  education  is  placed  be- 
fore all.  The  privilege  of  lawmaking  passes  to  the  citi- 
zens as  a  whole  or  to  their  representatives ;  freedom  in 
thought  and  speech  is  secured  by  forbidding  social  in- 
stitutions to  dictate  beliefs  and  standards,  and  the  rights 


THE  POLITICAL  INSTITUTION  261 

of  all  in  person  and  property  are  safeguarded  against  the 
arbitrary  whim  of  the  powerful. 

Changes  in  Governmental  Organization. — This  de- 
velopment also  is  indicated  by  the  differentiation  taking 
place  in  governmental  organization.  The  sphere  and  func- 
tions of  the  state's  two  chief  rivals,  the  family  and  the 
church,  are  first  carefully  marked  off,  and  the  residue 
of  governmental  authority  becomes  divided  among  several 
departments;  the  judicial  functions  of  the  executive  be- 
come a  separate  department ;  then  the  administrative 
functions  are  delegated  to  a  ministry ;  a  lawmaking  body 
develops  for  the  purpose  of  revising  the  law  and  adding 
to  it  from  time  to  time;  and  the  executive  aided  by  a 
cabinet  oversees  the  system  as  a  whole  and  formulates 
broad  lines  of  policy.  Local  administration  is  separated 
from  the  national,  and  their  spheres  of  authority  are 
carefully  distinguislied.  The  effect  of  these  differentia- 
tions as  a  whole  is  to  decentralize  authority  over  details, 
but  to  centralize  it  over  fundamentals  through  the  general 
power  of  supervision  and  regulation. 

Conditions  Necessary  for  Democracy. — It  is  not  to 
be  supposed  that  democracy  in  its  complete  form  has 
yet  been  attained  by  any  civilization.  Nothing  is  so  mis- 
leading in  theorizing  as  to  assume  that  things  are  neces- 
sarily what  their  names  or  their  ideals  imply.  There 
have  been  and  are  many  states  called  democracies,  but 
these  differ  widely.  Contrast,  for  example,  the  bloody 
despotism  of  the  republic  of  Haiti  before  it  came  under 
the  control  of  the  United  States,  the  oligarchic  despotism 
of  Diaz  in  Mexico  from  1876  to  191 1,  the  strongly  cen- 
tralized system  of  France,  the  capable  decentralized  Swiss 
republic,  and  the  soviet  form  of  government  established  in 
Russia  soon  after  the  fall  of  the  empire.     Evidently  the 


262  SOCIOLOGY 

mere  name  of  a  governmental  type  is  not  sufficient  as  a 
basis  for  classification.  If,  therefore,  by  democracy  is 
meant  not  a  formal  but  a  real  government  by  the  people, 
one  would  have  to  admit  that  the  word  denotes  an  ideal, 
not  a  condition  realized.  A  democracy  should  imply  that 
the  people  as  a  whole,  both  sexes  alike,  are  intelligently 
trained  and  capable  of  giving  a  fair  judgment  in  respect  to 
policies  under  discussion.  Furthermore,  no  large  per  cent 
of  them  should  be  so  straitened  by  poverty  as  to  be  de- 
barred from  leisure  and  warped  in  judgment.  So  long 
as  ignorance  and  extreme  poverty  handicap  a  society,  it 
is  impossible  for  that  body  to  become  fully  democratic. 
In  other  words,  the  two  fundamental  conditions  for  de- 
mocracy are  that  education  be  accessible  to  all,  and  that 
economic  extremes  in  society  be  eliminated,  namely,  the 
concentration  of  wealth  in  the  hands  of  a  few,  and  the 
impoverishment  of  the  masses.  Lacking  these  funda- 
mentals, even  though  a  state  is  democratic  in  form,  power 
will  always  in  fact  be  controlled  by  the  wealthy,  who  can 
regularly  rely  on  the  support  of  the  professional  and  the 
educated  classes,  if  these  also  are  recruited  from  the  few. 
Any  state,  no  matter  what  its  form,  will  tend  toward  a 
democratic  condition  if  the  opportunities  for  the  acquire- 
ment of  knowledge  and  property  are  shared  by  all  alike. 
Since,  however,  genetic  development  is  aristocratic  not 
democratic,  in  order  to  become  really  democratic  a  society 
must  deliberately  counteract  natural  tendencies  and  use 
telic  means  to  accomplish  Its  purpose.  As  such  move- 
ments already  exist  in  parts  o^  the  earth  where  conditions 
are  favorable,^  approximations  toward  a  true  democracy 
may  be  observed  and  the  marks  of  political  progress  in- 
dicated.   As  the  basis  for  such  observation  one  may  note 

'Australia,    New  Zealand,   and    Switzerland,    for   example. 


THE  POLITICAL  INSTITUTION  263 

those  policies  that  seem  to  make  for  progress  and  that 
are  based  on  telle  rather  than  on  genetic  development. 
The  substitution  of  rational  ends,  attained  through  sci- 
entific knowledge,  for  haphazard  development  is  one  of 
the  surest  indications  of  progress.  If  also  there  is  a 
steady  disappearance  of  pain  and  misery,  the  multiplica- 
tion of  human  happiness,  and  an  approximation  toward 
equality  of  opportunity  through  education  in  a  fairly  di- 
versified economic  system,  one  may  feel  reasonably  sure 
that  the  general  trend  of  society  is  toward  the  attainment 
of  democratic  ideals. 

The  Slow  Elimination  of  War. — In  general  one  may 
argue  that  the  coming  of  real  democracy  will  in  the 
long  run  banish  war  and  its  heavy  burden  of  expense. 
Nations  may  still  dispute  and  compete,  but  the  contests 
of  future  centuries  will  be  on  a  psychical  plane,  and  sci- 
ence through  skilled  intellects  will  win  the  battles.  The 
great  coordinating  international  agencies  of  modern 
times,  namely,  the  religious,  economic,  educational,  and 
cultural  factors,  will  tend  to  unify  human  interests,  and 
boards  of  arbitration  and  leagues  of  nations  in  case  of 
dispute  will  obviate  the  necessity  of  war,  which  in  any 
case  should  become  obsolete,  because  of  its  needless  waste 
of  life  and  property.  National  resources  will  be  care- 
fully husbanded,  production  in  all  its  forms  made  sci- 
entific, distribution  more  equitable,  and  a  more  generous 
consumption  made  possible  for  every  citizen,  looking  al- 
ways toward  the  elimination  of  unskilled  labor,  and  the 
inclusion  into  the  leisure  class  of  the  entire  population. 
This  will  be  accomplished  when  through  invention  and 
the  greater  utilization  of  natural  power,  a  well  paid 
short-hour  day  becomes  possible  for  all,  so  that  the  masses 
also  may  have  leisure  for  cultural  development. 


264  SOCIOLOGY 

Development  of  Democracy. — In  political  activity 
it  is  essential  for  democratic  development  that  govern- 
mental machinery,  now  so  cumbersome  and  awkward,  be 
simplified,  thoroughly  coordinated,  and  made  sensitive  to 
pubHc  opinion ;  and  that  governmental  policy  when  formu- 
lated into  law  be  scientific.  Nothing  in  politics  is  so  dis- 
heartening at  the  present  time  as  the  multiplicity  of  laws, 
mostly  unnecessary,  and  rarely,  even  the  best  of  them, 
based  on  any  farsighted  knowledge  of  human  nature  and 
social  development.  Laws  should  be  simple  and  general, 
details  should  be  left  to  administration,  and  the  few  prin- 
ciples promulgated  should  be  harmonized  with  science. 
Prohibitions  of  all  sorts  should  be  reduced  to  a  mini- 
mum, regulations  should  be  general,  taking  into  account 
human  nature  so  as  to  incite  it  to  compliance  and  make 
the  law  self-enforcing.  A  law  difficult  of  enforcement 
is  either  defective  or  demands  too  high  a  standard  for 
the  conditions  of  civilization.  It  should  be  repealed,  or 
modified,  until  the  standards  of  civilization  are  raised. 
Laws  so  numerous  and  complex  as  to  develop  litigation 
are  socially  injurious.  The  law  should  assume  that 
men  desire  the  right,  not  the  wrong.  If  the  reverse  in 
experience  proves  to  be  the  case,  social  organization  is 
defective,  and  wiser  legislation  would  presumably  re- 
move the  difficulty.  Every  law  should  be  formulated 
after  thorough  discussion  and  deliberation,  should  be 
based  on  principles  easily  comprehended  and  endorsed  by 
expert  authority,  and  should  be  so  carefully  worded  as  to 
convey  the  meaning  intended. 

Scientific  Legislation. — The  legislation  of  so-called 
democracies  at  present  is  in  the  main  a  reproach  and  a 
disgrace  to  the  body  politic.  No  disillusion  of  democ- 
racy is  so  keen  as  the  pessimism  existing  in  respect  to  the 


THE  POLITICAL  INSTITUTION  265 

utility  of  lawmaking  bodies.  Not  until  legislators  are 
more  truly  representative  and  intelligent  will  they  resume 
their  former  importance.  Then  society  might  confidently 
look  forward  to  a  much  more  rapid  development  of  the 
cultural  aspects  of  life.  Legislatures  as  a  rule  are  so 
little  acquainted  with  the  theoretical  principles  of  morals, 
aesthetics,  and  education  that  they  seldom  attempt  to 
legislate  in  respect  to  these  without  expert  advice,  which 
when  given  is  seldom  taken,  since  it  is  beyond  the  com- 
prehension of  the  average  legislator.  The  entire  cul- 
tural life,  therefore,  is  left  to  private  initiative.  Yet 
whatever  the  efficiency  of  private  agencies,  there  is  need 
always  of  a  larger  coordination,  a  broader  view,  and  a 
deeper  insight  than  can  possibly  be  supplied  in  this  fash- 
ion. Unquestionably  these  private  associations  should 
become  national,  should  formulate  great  policies,  and 
thereby  a  process  of  education  may  ultimately  induce  the 
state  to  embark  definitely  into  the  function  of  stimulating 
a  cultural  civilization. 

At  present  the  state  educates  chiefly  in  the  rudiments 
of  general  knowledge  and  in  industrial  occupations  and 
professions,  but  already  under  the  pressure  of  public 
opinion  it  is  beginning  to  moralize  the  conditions  of  life, 
to  teach  the  elements  of  art  in  the  schools,  and  through 
national  universities  to  foster  scientific  research.  When 
the  cost  of  war,  crime,  vice,  and  pauperism  shall  begin 
to  diminish,  as  societies  become  wiser,  it  is  natural  to 
assume  that  the  vast  amounts  now  wasted  for  such  pur- 
poses will  be  diverted  toward  a  constructive  policy,  and 
used  to  build  up  the  fundamentals  of  material  and  cul- 
tural civilization.  This  should  be  the  aim  of  scientific 
legislation,  and  the  statesmen  of  the  future  will  be  those 
who  can  most  effectively  utilize  the  power  of  the  state 


266  SOCIOLOGY 

in  constructive  activity,  rather  than  in  devising  new  pro- 
hibitions and  tedious  regulations  for  the  maintenance  of 
tlie  status  quo.  Tlie  Samaritan  of  the  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury is  not  the  man  who  assists  the  traveler  that  fell  among 
thieves,  but  he  who  sees  to  it  that  the  economic  conditions 
of  employment  are  so  bettered,  that  the  thieves  who  in- 
fest the  road  to  Jericho  may  have  honest  occupations. 
The  elimination  of  waste  by  a  more  complete  utilization 
of  human  energy  in  useful  directions  is  as  wise  a  policy 
in  politics  as  a  similar  principle  is  in  economics. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE   RELIGIOUS   INSTITUTION 

In  studying  the  development  of  the  religious  institu- 
tion, sociology  makes  use  of  ethnological  discoveries,^ 
supplemented  by  history,  and  the  comparison  of  existing 
systems.  In  using  this  comparative  and  historical  method, 
it  looks  merely,  as  already  explained,^  at  the  institutions 
and  ethics  of  religion,  leaving  to  philosophy  and  the- 
ology all  discussion  of  fundamental  beliefs. 

Beginnings  of  Religion. — It  seems  probable  that  re- 
ligion had  its  beginnings  when  primitive  man  felt  a  sort 
of  dread  of  uncomprehended  forces  surrounding  him  and 
there  arose  a  dull  desire  on  his  part  to  understand  them. 
Fear,  and  the  desire  to  comprehend  the  reason  for  his 
fears,  so  as  to  free  himself  from  them,  combined  to  give 
him  beliefs  respecting  a  world  outside  of  his  own.  At 
first,  in  the  fetishistic  stage,  his  crude  intellect  surmised 
that  there  were  mysterious  powers  in  many  of  the  objects 
by  which  he  was  surrounded,  in  animal  and  plant  life, 
for  example,  and  in  unusual  natural  phenomena.  These 
he  feared  or  cherished,  according  as  they  brought  him 
good  or  evil.  A  belief  in  luck,  or  in  lucky  and  unlucky 
objects,  is  a  common  modern  manifestation  of  this.     In 

*  For  brief  studies  of  this  sort,  with  references,  see  The  Temple 
Primer  Series:  Religion,  its  Origin  and  Forms,  by  J.  A.  Maccul- 
loch.     Also,   C.   H.  Toy's  Introduction  to   the  Study  of  Religions 

(1913). 

*  See  Chapter  V. 

267 


268  SOCIOLOGY 

the  animistic  stage  the  strange  appearances  and  energies 
of  nature  were  personified,  along  with  the  souls  of  his 
ancestors,  and  he  sought  to  establish  friendly  relations 
with  his  innumerable  gods  by  prayer,  propitiation,  and 
sacrificial  offerings.  Or,  by  superior  knowledge,  through 
magical  formulae  and  incantation,  he  strove  to  render 
them  obedient  to  his  will.  Odd  as  it  may  seem,  in  so 
doing  he  was  beginning  to  probe  into  the  secrets  of  na- 
ture, and  becoming  the  ancestor  of  the  modern  scientist, 
the  clergyman,  and  the  physician,  for  successful  magic 
implied  a  comprehension  of  some  of  the  manifestations 
of  nature.  When  with  keener  imagination  he  began  to 
see  coordinating  principles  and  to  grade  as  higher  or 
lower  the  various  gods  of  the  universe,  he  was  becoming 
a  philosopher,  slowly  working  out  theories  of  cosmology 
and  theology.  Still  later  with  growing  power  of  dis- 
crimination, he  began  to  group  inferior  gods  under  one 
supreme  god,  thereby  forming  hierarchies  of  gods,  and 
at  times  classified  the  gods  as  good  or  evil,  arraying 
each  class  under  its  own  leader.  He  then  endeavored 
to  show  the  relationship  of  these  one  to  another  and  to 
men,  idealizing  these  latter  relations  through  emphasis 
on  standards  of  right.  In  process  of  time  thoughtful 
men  ceased  to  believe  in,  or  ignored,  lesser  divinities  and 
advanced  to  a  monotheistic  theology.  Others  abstracted 
the  notion  of  personality  from  divinity  altogether,  thereby 
reaching  pantheism;  or  as  atheists  they  rejected  belief 
in  the  supernatural  altogether  and  discoursed  of  natural 
elements,  blind  chance,  and  cosmic  principles.  In  Comte's- 
positivistic  religion  he  ignores  supernatural  beings  alto- 
gether and  would  make  humanity  the  object  of  reverence 
and  service.  This  brief  outline  of  the  development  of 
religious  belief  hints  at  the  history  of  man's  striving  tq 


THE  RELIGIOUS  INSTITUTION  269 

understand  the  mysteries  of  nature,  and  to  define  his  own 
relationship  to  the  cosmos  and  its  energies. 

Higher  Development  of  Religion. — Subjectively,  as 
the  mind  of  primitive  man  gained  emotional  strength 
through  a  better  comprehension  of  the  majesty  of  na- 
ture, his  unreasoning  fear  deepened  in  intensity  and 
became  awe.  As  this  became  tinged  with  speculative 
thinking  respecting  the  mysteries  of  the  universe,  it 
changed  into  reverence,  devotion,  and  love,  as  God 
became  revealed  to  him  as  the  creator  of  the  world, 
the  giver  of  all  good,  the  author  of  justice,  and  finally 
as  a  loving  father.  So,  likewise,  the  rude  incantations, 
the  bloody  sacrifices,  and  selfish  supplications  of  early 
civilization  slowly  change  into  higher  and  purer  forms, 
and  culminate  in  spiritual  worship,  and  in  the  sacrifice 
made  by  clean  hearts  and  right  spirits,  which  aspire  to 
come  into  close  communion  with  the  divine  and  to  par- 
take of  its  nature.  In  the  same  v^^^ay  symbolic  rites  slowly 
lose  their  significance  for  later  generations ;  their  ruder 
and  bloodier  aspects  are  eliminated;  and  very  gradually 
they  pass  into  an  aesthetic  symbolism,  emphasizing  music 
and  the  beauty  of  form  and  color.  Even  these  grow  less 
important  as  higher  civilization  advances,  and  an  inner 
worship  takes  its  place,  as  human  insight  becomes  able  to 
comprehend  the  spiritual  in  the  universe  without  the 
aid  of  material  representations  of  the  divine. 

Influence  of  Environment. — The  influence  of  en- 
vironmental conditions  on  religious  development  is 
marked.  Since  social  development  largely  depends  on 
economic  status  and  intellectual  training,  wherever  low 
economic  and  intellectual  conditions  prevail,  the  religion 
of  such  a  civilization,  by  whatever  name  it  may  be  called, 
will  tend  to  become  a  low  form  of  animistic  worship,  filled 


270  SOCIOLOGY 

with  superstitions  and  relying  on  magic,  charms,  and  holy 
relics  for  safety.  Tendencies  toward  polytheism  demand 
a  somewhat  higher  grade  of  development  since  the  gods 
are  appraised,  classified,  and  specialized,  each  for  a  dis- 
tinct service.  Such  a  system  finds  its  natural  support  in 
the  economic  conditions  and  social  classifications  of  pa- 
triarchal, aristocratic,  and  monarchic  civilization.  The 
broadening  of  economic  possibilities,  such,  for  example, 
as  develop  through  commerce,  facilitates  the  rise  of  higher 
religions  developing  through  the  contact  of  many  con- 
trasting forms  of  religion  and  typified  by  the  many 
varieties  of  religious  belief  formerly  taught  by  the  wis- 
est philosophers  of  Asia  Minor  and  Greece,  at  that  time 
the  center  of  international  commerce  and  where  the 
world's  highest  civilization  flourished.  In  the  same  man- 
ner the  spirit  of  religion  in  society  as  a  whole  is  largely 
determined  by  the  economic  and  intellectual  conditions  of 
its  adherents.  It  will  be  dominating  and  dogmatic  in  a 
narrow  environment,  and  conciliatory  and  democratic  if 
conditions  are  high.  It  is  harsh  in  its  morals  when  cruelty 
is  common,  and  strongly  ethical  when  humanitarianism 
is  at  its  height.  It  will  be  petty  and  provincial  under 
patriarchal  conditions,  and  will  broaden  out  into  a  world 
religion  only  when  the  times  are  alive  with  world  views 
and  movements.  As  civilizations  assimilate,  their  re- 
ligions assimilate  also,  so  that,  as  future  centuries  unite 
the  divergent  types  of  the  East  and  the  West,  the  religion 
of  that  time  must  inevitably  be  a  synthesis  of  the  domi- 
nant qualities  of  the  world  religions  then  existing. 

The  Priestly  Class. — The  priesthood,  or  sacred 
class  historically  prominent  in  practically  all  religions  in 
every  age  of  civilization,  finds  its  beginnings  in  the  wiz- 
ards, magicians,  sorcerers,  or  medicine  men  of  primitive 


THE  RELIGIOUS  INSTITUTION  271 

life.  These  had  worked  out  beliefs  about  the  supernatural 
and  methods  of  approach,  so  as  to  win  their  favor  and 
ward  off  evil.  They  also  knew  the  secrets  of  charms  and 
exorcisms,  and  by  their  knowledge  of  the  medicinal  prop- 
erties of  plants,  could  heal  many  diseases.  They  were 
not  impostors  in  such  claims,  but  really  were  able  to  ac- 
complish much  by  simple  remedies  and  by  suggestions 
made  to  a  suggestible  clientele.  The  more  thoughtful 
among  them  saw  deeper  into  the  mysteries  of  life,  be^ 
coming  soothsayers  and  prophets.  Their  emotional  na- 
tures throbbing  with  exalted  emotions  were  so  quickened 
that  they  gained  increased  insight  into  the  mystery  of  life 
so  that  their  thoughts  seemed  to  them  an  inspiration  from 
the  gods  themselves,  who,  like  Socrates'  dcemon,  imparted 
to  them  wisdom  and  understanding.  They  had  acquired 
the  power  of  looking  both  "forwards  and  backwards" 
and  were  rightly  deemed  most  useful  members  of  society. 
These  several  classes  of  priests  were  really  the  philoso- 
phers, teachers,  physicians,  and  scientists  of  their  time; 
they  accumulated  knowledge  and  handed  it  on  by  tradi- 
tion, thus  safeguarding  for  future  generations  society's 
treasures  of  intellectuality,  much  of  it,  of  course,  dross, 
but  with  a  solid  residuum  of  real  social  value. 

The  utility  of  the  priestly  class  is  not  so  obvious  when 
it  became  hierarchical  in  form,  as  in  Egypt,  and  when 
it  began  to  cherish  its  best  knowledge  as  a  secret  to  be 
taught  only  to  an  inner  circle,  deliberately  striving  to  keep 
the  masses  in  ignorance.  Matters  became  worse  when  it 
heaped  up  a  great  load  of  useless  ritual,  benumbing  social 
energy,  involving  wasteful  sacrifices,  suppressing  innova- 
tions, and  resulting  in  the  compulsory  support  of  a  large 
body  of  priests  in  charge  of  the  routine  of  worship.  A 
priestly  leisure  class  made  up  of  non-producers  can  be 


272  SOCIOLOGY 

justified  only  if  they  really  add  to  mental  or  cultural 
achievement,  and  seek  to  build  up  the  people  in  spiritual 
knowledge.  Otherwise  they  handicap  development  by 
emphasis  on  superstition  and  wasteful  observances. 

Evil  of  Rigidity  in  Teachings. — In  the  same  way 
progress  is  hindered  if  the  teachings  of  the  priestly  class 
become  fixed,  or  if  the  interpretation  of  the  sacred  codes 
or  writings  becomes  a  monopoly  entrusted  to  the  priestly 
class  only.  Dogmatism  of  a  rigid  type,  relying  chiefly 
on  the  teachings  of  the  past  and  belittling  newer  informa- 
tion, is  regularly  inimical  to  progressive  civilization,  and 
the  better  religions  always  provide  some  means  whereby 
new  truth  may  be  received  and  old  teachings  rejected  if 
outworn.  These  means  may  vary  from  a  divinely  in- 
spired ecclesiastical  head  or  council  of  clericals  at  one 
extreme,  to  a  purely  individualistic  system  based  on  a 
theory  of  "soul  liberty"  ^  or  freedom  of  conscience.  As 
is  the  case  in  law,  traditional  meanings  also  may  be  modi- 
fied by  their  codification  into  creeds,  as  a  sort  of  funda- 
mental law,  and  by  commentary,  interpretation,  and  the 
decisions  of  official  bodies.  Ultimately  religious  teach- 
ings must  harmonize  with  well-established  truths  in  sci- 
ence and  philosophy;  the  two  systems  of  teaching  may 
occasionally  seem  to  be  in  opposition,  but  a  faith  unrea- 
sonable in  its  basis  is  finally  atrophied  and  sloughed  ofif 
as  credulity  or  superstition,  or  else  is  retained  as  a  mere 
conventional  belief.  No  religion  founded  on  unreason 
and  injustice,  or  in  opposition  to  demonstrated  scientific 
teachings  can  retain  its  hold  on  the  minds  of  thoughtful 
men  in  an  age  when  men  are  striving  to  come  into  har- 
mony with  the  highest  and  best  in  the  universe. 

*  See   Richmond's  Rhode  Island,  p.   20,   in   discussion   of   Roger 
Williams. 


THE  RELIGIOUS  INSTITUTION  273 

The  Church  as  a  Social  Institution. — The  church  is 
the  institution  developed  for  reHgious  purposes,  and  there 
should,  of  course,  be  included  under  that  term  the  or- 
ganization, its  rites,  and  ceremonies,  its  creeds  and  sacred 
books,  and  its  priesthood.  It  is,  of  course,  called  into 
being  by  that  desire  or  emotion,  whether  fear  or  love,  or 
that  ecstatic  thrill  in  human  hearts  seeking  to  come  into 
harmony  with  the  supernatural  world.  The  term  church 
may  loosely  be  applied  even  to  the  primitive  organization 
of  savage  life,  for  the  idea  underlying  it  is  essentially  that 
of  modern  times.  Like  other  social  institutions  the  or- 
ganization of  the  church  is  always  patterned  after  the 
typical  social  organizations  dominant  at  the  time,  i.e., 
after  monarchical,  aristocratic,  or  democratic  models, 
though  ancient  forms  may  survive  long  after  the  spirit 
underlying  them  has  changed.*  The  church  rarely  orig- 
inates ethical  systems  but  rather  selects  the  codes  of  its 
generation  and  to  some  extent  emotionalizes  and  idealizes 
them,  teaching  them  as  if  revelations  of  the  gods,  thus 
imparting  to  them  a  religious  sanction.  Like  other  social 
institutions,  it  tends  to  be  static  and  conservative,  its 
office,  as  always,  being  to  conserve  the  best  of  the  past, 
not  to  originate  the  new.  For  this  reason  whenever  in 
society  any  really  important  religious  change  becomes  in- 
evitable, its  advocates  must  arise  from  outside  the  church 
or  withdraw  from  it  in  schism.  This  naturally  arouses 
antagonism,  for  human  experience  shows  that  social  in- 
stitutions strongly  entrenched  resist  vigorously  all  forms 
of  opposition  or  rebellion.  A  church,  like  states  and 
economic  systems,  wars  against  its  antagonists  if  It  fears 
them,  and  the  more  bitterly  perhaps,  if  It  maintains  that 

*  Note,  for  example,  the  many  variations  in  the  types  of  gov- 
ernmental organization  among  the  numerous  religious  bodies  of 
the  United  States. 


274  SOCIOLOGY 

its  teachings  only  are  inspired,  and  that  it  alone  knows  the 
truth.  Such  religions,  animated  by  a  proselytizing  spirit, 
become  fanatical  when  opposed,  and  develop  a  policy  of 
"no  quarter."  Hence  one  of  the  saddest  records  in  all 
history  is  that  series  of  bloody  wars  and  persecutions, 
waged  by  churches  against  their  rivals  and  against  those 
who  seem  to  be  advancing  teachings  at  variance  with 
what  is  claimed  to  be  "the  word  of  God"  or  the  creed  of 
the  church.' 

Separation  of  Church  and  State. — Active  suppres- 
sion of  opposition  is  only  possible  when  church  and  state 
are  in  close  sympathy  and  united  in  a  common  policy.  It 
becomes  impossible  when  rivalry  between  them  develops 
through  the  desire  of  the  state  to  enlarge  its  functions  at 
the  expense  of  the  church.  Historically  this  rivalry  has 
regularly  resulted  in  the  victory  of  the  state,  which  has 
either  subordinated  and  subsidized  the  church,  retaining 
it  thereby  as  a  useful  ally,  or,  on  the  other  hand,  has 
confiscated  its  endowed  property,  deprived  it  of  political 
importance,  and  relegated  it  to  the  same  status  as  that 
of  any  other  social  institution.  In  democracies,  under  the 
principle  of  freedom,  the  separate  spheres  of  church  and 
state  are  carefully  defined,  and  a  policy  of  mutual  non- 
interference adopted.  The  subordination  of  the  church,  or 
the  separation  of  church  and  state,  becomes  inevitable 
in  practice  when  the  state  becomes  the  supreme  author- 
ity. The  church  has  then  the  alternative  of  becoming 
free  but  self-supporting,  or  subsidized  but  dependent  on 
the  state.  Religious  idealism  prefers  the  former,  but 
expediency  the  latter. 

Whenever  a  church  is  under  the  necessity  of  relying 

*  See  White's  A  History  of  the  Warfare  of  Science  with  Theology 
in  Christendom. 


THE  RELIGIOUS  INSTITUTION  275 

for  support  on  its  membership,  there  is  a  tendency  to 
lessen  expenses  by  simplification  of  services  and  to  soften 
the  rigidity  of  religious  requirements,  so  as  to  win  pop- 
ular favor.  The  beliefs  taught  by  the  priesthood  become 
more  flexible,  and  thus  toleration  and  religious  freedom 
succeed  dogmatism  and  illiberality.  When  dogmatic 
teachings  and  a  rigid  ecclesiasticism  become  susceptible 
of  modification,  the  religious  system  as  a  whole  much 
more  readily  adapts  itself  to  a  progressive  civilization, 
and  may  thereby  exercise  a  powerful  influence  over  social 
life. 

The  Religious  Institution  Permanent. — The  endur- 
ing quality  of  the  religious  institution  in  history  is  seen 
if  we  note  its  manifold  interests.  As  a  philosophy  it  had 
its  cosmic  theory,  seeking  to  show  the  unity  of  all  things 
in  a  divinity  or  divinities,  who  originated,  controlled, 
animated,  and  guided  the  universe  toward  a  predestined 
goal.  In  science  it  claimed  to  possess  by  revelation  the 
essential  facts  of  knowledge,  and  long  insisted  that  sci- 
entific teachings  should  be  harmonized  with  those  sup- 
posed revelations.  In  ethics  it  laid  down  rules  for  human 
conduct,  arguing  that  in  so  doing  it  acted  by  divine  au- 
thority ;  in  general  also  it  asserted  its  right  to  dictate  prin- 
ciples of  action  in  economic,  familial,  political,  and  recrea- 
tional affairs,  and  sought  to  regulate  the  methods  of 
their  functioning.  Education  it  assumed  as  its  own  spe- 
cial function,  reserving  its  inner  and  choicer  teachings  for 
its  own  priestly  class. 

Naturally  such  large  claims  and  powers  are  now  not 
always  admitted  by  the  other  agencies  in  society,  for 
philosophy  and  science  defend  their  right  to  promulgate 
their  conclusions  even  though  at  variance  with  theo- 
logical teachings;  social  ethics  begins  to  impress  on  the 


276  SOCIOLOGY 

church  its  teachings  in  regard  to  social  morality;  educa- 
tional systems  refuse  longer  to  be  subordinated  to  re- 
ligious dogma ;  church  and  state  are  separating,  each  hav- 
ing its  own  functioning  to  perform;  the  civil  law  regu- 
lates the  family  and  economic  activities  are  entirely  too 
numerous  and  complex  to  permit  of  interference  by  the 
church.  Under  such  conditions  the  church  of  necessity 
must  become  either  an  anachronism,  or  else  must  work 
toward  a  higher  stage  of  usefulness,  cutting  loose  from 
routine  and  pettiness  and  endeavoring  to  serve  again  as  a 
prophetic  guide  for  man's  idealistic  longings. 

The  present  century  is  obviously  transitional  for  the 
great  religions.  The  former  static  conditions  environing 
the  Asiatic  and  Mohammedan  religions  are  rapidly  break- 
ing up,  and  these  religions  through  contact  one  with 
another  and  with  Christianity  are  bound  to  become  modi- 
fied in  the  direction  of  assimilation.  The  world  war  has 
completely  unsettled  religious  conditions  in  Europe,  es- 
pecially in  Russia  and  the  Central  Powers,  and  the  ancient 
systems  of  these  nations  are  to-day  struggling  for  life. 
Throughout  Western  civilization  far  less  attention  is 
given  to  the  religion  of  fear  and  punishment,  and  greater 
stress  is  placed  on  religious  fraternalism.  Dogmatic  teach- 
ings and  creeds  are  no  longer  to  the  front  and  there  is  a 
general  lack  of  interest  in  the  older  teachings  of  heaven 
and  immortality.  Movements  towards  federative  unities 
emphasizing  united  policies  of  social  ethics  and  the  avoid- 
ance of  duplication  of  effort  are  in  process  of  formation, 
and  these  are  not  merely  national  in  scope  but  are  broad- 
ening out  into  an  international  world  policy.  .  All  is  in 
flux  and  the  church,  along  with  the  other  institutions 
of  society,  is  in  need  of  wise  leaders  who  see  visions  rather 
than  dream  dreams. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MORALS  ^ 

Three  Stages  in  Customs. — When  human  beings  be- 
gan to  come  together  in  social  relations  there  developed 
among  them  customs,  or  methods  of  action  sanctioned 
by  usage.  If  a  person  lives  by  himself  he  becomes  a 
law  unto  himself,  but  if  he  lives  with  his  fellows,  his 
habits  must  harmonize  with  theirs  for  the  sake  of  the 
common  welfare.  Hence  in  early  civilization  whatever 
conduced  to  group  safety  was  enforced  by  public  opinion. 
Conversely  what  was  inimical  to  public  safety  was 
frowned  on,  and  became  tabu,  or  prohibited.  If  there 
was  a  custom  partly  good  and  partly  bad,  there  would 
slowly  arise  a  system  of  regulation  aiming  to  guide  social 
activity  into  the  safer  channel.  These  notions  represent 
the  three  great  stages  of  social  morals  or  customs  ;  namely, 
a  social  action  may  be  approved,  prohibited,  or  regulated. 
In  any  code  of  morals,  whether  civil,  religious,  or  ethical, 
these  three  stages  are  well  marked.  The  ten  command- 
ments,^ for  example,  are  chiefly  prohibitions,  but  con- 
tain also  an  approval  of  filial  reverence,  and  a  regulation 
of  labor;  the  law  of  the  land,  too,  contains  approved 
constitutional  principles,  prohibitions  contained  in  the 
criminal  code,  and  such  regulations  as  those  of  inheritance 

^  In  illustration  of  newer  points  of  view  in  respect  to  social 
ethics  note  the  following  as  typical  references :  E.  Westermarck, 
Origin  and  Growth  of  the  Moral  Ideas,  3  vols.;  L.  T.  Hobhouse, 
Morals  in  Evolution,  2  vols.;  W.  G.  Sumner,  Folkways. 

*  Exodus  XX. 

277 


278  SOCIOLOGY 

or  the  existence  of  corporations.  The  logical  trend  in 
social  development  is  from  prohibition  to  regulation,  and 
from  regulation  to  approval. 

Prohibitive  Stage. — A  civilization  founded  on  pro- 
hibitions is  necessarily  backward  and  primitive.  The  tabu 
characterizes  an  age  of  immaturity  and  unreason.  It 
assumes  that  persons  are  too  ignorant  or  too  wicked  to 
do  what  is  right,  and  hence  must  be  forbidden  to  do  evil 
by  wiser  and  better  heads.  As  persons  too  evil  or  igno- 
rant to  do  right  may  prefer  wrong  action  even  though 
prohibited,  a  threat  of  punishment  is  regularly  added  to 
prohibitions,  under  the  notion  that  the  person  who  may 
not  see  the  reason  for  the  prohibition  or  the  penalty,  may 
yet  dread  the  penalty  sufficiently  to  refrain  from  evil  ac- 
tions. When  this  proved  insufficient  to  deter,  then  pen- 
alties were  made  increasingly  severe,  until  prohibitive 
laws  came  to  be  associated  with  one  long  series  of  tor- 
turing punishments,  the  infliction  of  which  -on  offenders 
classes  the  perpetrators  far  below  their  victims  in  evil 
and  ignorance.^ 

Yet  a  tabu  stage  was  a  natural  development  in  a  genetic 
civilization.  The  growing  intellect  of  man  became  able 
to  see  a  developing  evil,  but  was  not  keen  enough  to  know 
how  to  eradicate  it.  His  only  remedy  for  it  was  the 
natural  and  animal  one  of  the  blow  or  the  bite,  except 
that  man,  like  a  cat  with  a  mouse,  learned  to  protract 
the  agony  and  duration  of  dying.  His  career  of  war 
also  inured  him  to  scenes  of  blood  and  suffering,  so  that 
he  even  acquired  a  delight  in  the  infliction  of  punishment 
and  torture.  For  this  reason  we  see  in  history  progres- 
sive and  conquering  nations  easily  surpassing  their  more 
primitive  neighbors  in  cruelty ;  as  illustrated,  for  instance. 

*  See,  for  illustrations,  Henry  C.  Lea,  Superstition  and  Force. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MORALS  279 

by  the  war  methods  of  the  Assyrians,  the  Romans,  and  the 
Spaniards  in  the  Americas. 

Modifications  of  the  Tabu. — In  still  higher  civiliza- 
tion, however,  when,  through  a  long  period  of  peace,  gen- 
tler emotions  arise  in  the  soul,  a  keener  intellect  revolts 
against  the  vindictiveness  of  such  punishments,  and  seeks 
to  devise  kindlier  methods  for  the  promotion  of  social 
ends.  As  a  result  of  this,  torture  and  cruelty  slowly  fall 
into  disuse,  humane  treatment  creeps  in,  severe  penalties 
are  seldom  enforced,  and  whole  classes  of  prohibitions 
pass  from  the  statute  books. 

From  the  sociological  standpoint  it  is  not  difficult  to 
see  why  the  trend  of  higher  civilization  is  entirely  away 
from  prohibitions  of  all  sorts.  If  evil  actions,  for  the 
most  part,  do  not  proceed  from  natural  depravity  or  in- 
born tendencies,  but  are  chiefly  the  effect  of  vicious  en- 
vironment and  defective  training  in  youth,  as  well  as  de- 
fective heredity,  then  the  proper  remedy  is  to  eliminate 
evil  conditions,  not  to  place  prohibitions  on  persons  who 
should  rather  be  stimulated  to  right  activity  through  the 
influence  of  a  proper  environment.  As  mankind  rises 
in  the  social  scale,  therefore,  criminal  laws  of  all  sorts 
should  gradually  disappear,  as  scientific  wisdom  demon- 
strates how  much  better  it  is  to  regulate  activity  and  de- 
velop capacity,  than  to  repress  and  suppress  misdirected 
energy. 

Regulation  in  Morals. — The  stage  of  regulation 
in  morals  or  customs  follows  naturally  after  the  stage  of 
prohibition.  If  a  certain  form  of  social  activity  should 
neither  be  prohibited  nor  left  entirely  free,  some  restric- 
tions for  general  purposes  must  be  placed  on  the  time, 
place,  and  manner  of  exercise,  and  these  will  be  such 
as  will  seem  on  the  whole  most  conducive  to  group  safety. 


28o  SOCIOLOGY 

For  instance,  sexual  passion  should  not  be  prohibited  in 
a  group,  nor  can  its  indiscriminate  indulgence  be  ap- 
proved. If  it  can  neither  be  wholly  condemned  nor  wholly 
approved,  it  must  be  regulated,  and  this  is  clear  when 
the  differing  interests  of  males  and  females  and  of  rival 
males  are  taken  into  account.  Hence  there  developed 
customs  in  simple  group  life  that  in  effect  fixed  stand- 
ards of  chastity,  regulated  the  institution  of  marriage, 
and  ordained  permissible  methods  of  divorce.  As  long  as 
this  powerful  passion  is  not  dominated  by  ethical  idealism 
and  the  intellect,  there  will  be  need  of  social  regulation. 
If  the  time  should  ever  come  when  humanity  is  pure- 
minded  and  self-controlled,  then  all  such  regulations 
would  pass  into  disuse,  and  the  marriage  relation  be 
dominated  solely  by  the  power  of  public  opinion  approv- 
ing high  standards  of  virtue. 

Higher  Standards  o£  Morals  Possible. — In  socially 
developed  societies  there  are  undoubtedly  many  persons 
to  whom  the  prohibitions  and  regulations  of  society  are 
unnecessary.  These  persons  violate  no  criminal  code, 
they  need  no  stimulus  of  fear  or  punishment  to  inspire 
them  to  right  action,  and  they  voluntarily  conform  to  the 
highest  standards  set  by  society.  Such  persons  illustrate 
the  possibilities  of  human  progress,  and  indicate  the  path 
of  social  development.  Prohibitions  and  regulations  are 
for  the  vicious,  the  immature,  and  the  ignorant,  and  will 
pass  into  oblivion  in  proportion  as  society  becomes  able 
by  wisdom  to  banish  vice  and  ignorance  from  social  life. 
Family  and  school  discipline,  religious  teachings,  and 
changes  in  criminal  law,  all  furnish  abundant  illustration 
of  the  passing  of  tabu  civilization,  the  reduction  in  the 
ex'tent  of  regulation  of  conduct,  and  the  growing  assump- 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MORALS  281 

tion  that  human  nature  rightly  developed  and  trained  can 
become  a  law  unto  itself. 

Differentiation  in  Morals. — In  a  primitive  social 
group  customs  were  undifferentiated.  Gustom  was  cus- 
tom, and  no  questions  arose  as  to  whether  it  was  primarily 
religious,  economic,  or  domestic.  But  when  the  intellect 
began  to  notice  differences  and  make  comparisons,  there 
grew  up  a  distinction  in  mind  between  religious  customs 
that  set  the  standards  between  men  and  divinity,  and 
moral  customs  establishing  standards  of  conduct  between 
men  and  men.  Likewise  the  customs  involved  in  men's 
dealings  with  one  another  became  differentiated  still  fur- 
ther, and  it  is  possible  to  distinguish  in  practice  a  whole 
series  of  customs,  such  as  civic,  economic,  domestic,  edu- 
cational, and  the  like.  If  some  of  these  happen  to  be 
relatively  insignificant,  they  are  considered  mere  cus- 
toms, unmoral  by  nature,  and  like  the  rules  of  etiquette, 
are  left  to  social  opinion  for  enforcement.  If,  on  the 
other  hand,  they  are  deemed  of  real  importance  to  group 
safety,  public  opinion  may  voice  itself  in  a  definite  way 
through  parent,  church,  or  state,  for  example,  so  as  to 
obtain  and  enforce  its  will.  Opinion  as  to  what  is  or 
is  not  important  may  vary  according  to  the  age  and  the 
group,  and  it  may  be  conflicting  in  dynamic  civilization, 
but  for  their  maintenance  a  moral  obligation  will  regu- 
larly be  attached  to  whatever  customs  are  thought  to  in- 
volve group  safety. 

Evidently  the  power  to  distinguish  differences  such  as 
these  implies  mental  acumen  and  a  recognition  of  moral 
standards.  If  this  insight  is  lacking,  all  customs  seem 
of  equal  importance  and  a  similar  punishment  may  be 
meted  out  for  a  slight  offense  as  for  a  heinous  crime.  Or 
again,  if  the  same  offense  is  committed  by  different  per- 


282  SOCIOLOGY 

sons,  a  crude  civilization  may  punish  both  ahke,  taking 
no  account  of  differences  in  age,  sex,  personality,  or  en- 
vironment. A  high  civilization,  therefore,  implies  an 
ability  to  note  carefully  differences  in  conditions,  to  esti- 
mate moral  values,  and  to  set  up  standards  in  morals, 
and  then  to  combine  all  of  these  conclusions  into  general- 
izations, which  will  represent  the  moral  judgment  of  the 
community.  This  capacity  is  rare,  so  that  the  moral 
standards  and  judgments  of  society  in  dynamic  civiliza- 
tion may  justly  be  suspected  of  imperfection.  As  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  society  has  often  had  to  make  its  commands 
imperative  by  asserting  an  infallibility  in  its  rules,  and 
has  grounded  its  decisions  on  other  authority,  such  as  a 
revelation  from  divinity,  or  on  the  ancient  custom  of 
ancestors,  the  will  of  a  divinely  inspired  king  or  priest, 
or  on  a  conscience  supposedly  in  harmony  with  the  prin- 
ciple of  justice.  More  and  more,  however,  the  convic- 
tion grows  that  it  is  unwise  to  seek  to  fix  standards  of 
morality  for  all  time  by  such  assumptions,  but  rather 
that  a  developing  civilization  should  see  more  clearly  into 
moral  principles  with  passing  years  and  should  revise  its 
standards  as  knowledge  increases  and  deeper  reflection 
becomes  possible. 

Changing  Standards. — For  such  reasons  social  ethics 
holds  it  advisable  in  an  age  of  transition,  to  call  into  ques- 
tion from  time  to  time  dubious  standards  of  morality, 
not  for  the  purpose  of  overthrowing  them  necessarily, 
but  so  as  to  lead  to  the  elimination  of  what  may  be  ob- 
solete, and  the  strengthening  of  what  really  helps  toward 
the  safety  and  health  of  society.  Especially  should  pro- 
hibitory codes  be  carefully  examined,  so  as  to  see  whether 
society  is  not  ready  to  substitute  for  them  in  whole  or 
in  part  a  system  of  wise  regulation  and  control.     In  this 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MORALS  283 

dynamic  age,  the  entire  field  of  civic  and  moral  reform 
furnishes  illustrations  of  this  trend,  and  in  all  depart- 
ments of  social  activity  changing  moral  standards  may 
be  observed.  For  instance,  religious  teachers  no  longer 
insist  on  a  lengthy  series  of  prohibitions,  as,  for  example, 
the  tabu  on  certain  amusements,  or  threats  of  punishment 
for  those  who  fail  to  comply  rigidly  v^ath  ritualistic  or 
ceremonial  requirements,  but  they  rather  set  up  and  em- 
phasize spiritual  and  altruistic  standards  as  ideals.  Do- 
mestic and  educational  training  is  passing  from  stern 
disciplinary  authority  enforced  by  corporal  punishments 
to  a  combination  of  kindergarten  methods  and  com- 
radeship. The  prohibitive  aspect  of  law  is  passing 
into  regulation  and  control  through  the  influence  of 
public  opinion  and  administrative  departments ;  capital 
and  other  severe  punishments  die  out,  the  jail  and  the 
dungeon  are  succeeded  by  the  probation  system  for  the 
young  and  industrial  places  of  detention  for  adults,  and 
the  habitual  drunkard  is  no  longer  considered  a  criminal 
fit  only  for  the  jail,  but  as  a  proper  subject  for  medical 
treatment,  just  as  the  insane  are  placed  under  the  care 
of  a  physician,  instead  of  suffering  maltreatment  as  de- 
moniacs. 

Group  Standards. — In  general  the  best  instruction 
in  ethics  is  no  longer  given  by  prohibitions  but  by  incite- 
ment to  right  action  through  precept  and  example,  in 
imitation  of  Chaucer's  village  parson,  of  whom  it  is  said: 

But  Cristes  lore,  and  his  apostles  twelve, 
He  taught,  and  ferst  he  folwed  it  himselve. 

If  it  were  at  all  feasible  it  should  be  socially  unneces- 
sary for  society  to  insist  on  a  common  ethical  standard 
in  details  for  all  conditions  of  men.     As  long  as  society 


284  SOCIOLOGY 

is  divided  into  classes  of  differing  grades  of  moral  and 
intellectual  attainment,  full  uniformity  in  moral  con- 
duct will  be  impossible,  and  attempts  to  insist  on  it  will 
result  only  in  social  friction.  All  may  believe  in  honor, 
virtue,  and  honesty,  even  though  no  two  persons  can 
agree  in  respect  to  fine  distinctions  and  detailed  applica- 
tions of  principles  to  conduct.  A  certain  latitude  is  in- 
evitable, if  one  takes  into  account  differences  in  heredity 
and  environment.  Just  as  a  Roman  judge  might  admin- 
ister indifferently  either  local  law  or  jus  gentium  accord- 
ing to  circumstances,  or  a  judge  in  a  juvenile  court  may 
assign  different  penalties  for  the  same  sort  of  offense,  so 
a  judge  in  morals  might  be  able  to  insist  on  fundamental 
principles,  even  though  he  should  make  wide  differences 
in  application.  A  slight  fault  in  one  might  deserve 
sterner  treatment  than  a  serious  crime  in  another,  just 
as  a  poisonous  pin  scratch  may  be  far  more  serious  than 
a  clean  wound  from  a  dagger. 

It  would  seem  also  as  though  the  moral  pride  of  a  class 
consciousness  is  socially  worth  preserving.  Some  of  our 
highest  and  best  achievements  in  moral  life  have  been 
class  achievements,  such  as,  for  instance,  the  hushido,'^ 
or  knightly  code  of  the  Japanese,  the  high  caste  morality 
of  India,  the  nohlessc  oblige  and  "honor"  of  Western 
civilization,  and  the  pride  of  a  workman,  a  farmer,  or 
a  manufacturer  in  the  quality  and  honesty  of  his  product. 
On  the  basis  of  group  morals,  no  matter  how  simple  and 
petty,  might  be  built  up  a  nobler  standard,  which  should 
grow  from,  but  never  entirely  supplant,  its  more  deeply 
rooted  but  morally  inferior  parent. 

Differing  Codes  of  Morals. — In  the  differentiation  of 
custom,  already  mentioned,  is  to  be  sought  those  great 
*Inazo  Nitobe,  Bushido,  1905,  loth  edition. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MORALS  285 

classes  of  morals  that  play  so  important  a  part  in  human 
civilization.  Each  set  represents  a  great  achievement, 
is  conserved  by  its  own  peculiar  social  institution,  and 
is  imparted  to  succeeding  generations  in  systems  of  in- 
struction. The  church,  as  the  institution  for  religious  pur- 
poses, has  developed  its  schools  and  the  priesthood,  so 
as  to  teach,  through  these,  principles  of  action  for  the 
regulation  of  conduct  toward  God  and  man.  The  family 
and  school  combined  impart  instruction  in  simple  morals, 
and  train  the  child  to  work  cooperatively  in  the  group. 
The  state  devotes  its  attention  to  such  customs  as  con- 
cern the  security  and  amplification  of  life  and  property. 
Economic  institutions  work  out  moral  codes  for  busi- 
ness and  fix  by  law  and  public  opinion  the  rules  of  eco- 
nomic competition  and  fair-dealing.  In  numerous  in- 
stitutions for  moral,  aesthetic,  and  intellectual  purposes, 
principles,  standards,  and  codes  are  worked  out  and  ap- 
proved, so  that  in  any  particular  department  of  human 
activity  the  custom  or  morals  to  be  observed  will  be  en- 
forced by  the  particuar  public  opinion  atached  to  that 
institution.  Thus,  in  every  profession  or  economic  oc- 
cupation there  is  a  well  recognized  code  that  must  be  ob- 
served by  those  within  the  group,  such  as  the  profes- 
sional code  of  lawyer  or  physician,  just  as  in  athletics 
players  must  conform  to  the  rules  of  the  game,  and  just 
as  even  thieves  must  maintain  fair  play  and  "honor" 
among  themselves. 

Modifications  in  Morals. — Ethical  customs  of  all 
sorts  are  subject  to  gradual  modification  in  genetic  civil- 
ization, though  such  modifications  are  at  a  minimum  in 
static  civilization.  In  dynamic  civilization,  however, 
change  is  so  necessary,  that  society  has  devised  many 
ways  of  accomplishing  it.    The  easiest  and  most  natural 


286  SOCIOLOGY 

is  to  introduce  change  by  interpretation.  Words  acquire 
slight  variations  in  sense  through  varying  mentahties ; 
there  may  be  even  dehberate  misinterpretations  by  those 
in  authority;  secondary  and  primary  meanings  become 
confused,  and  all  these  causes  combine  to  bring  about 
modifications  in  moral  codes.  The  process  can  easily  be 
illustrated  by  a  study  of  legal  fictions,  or  of  any  com- 
mentary on  law  or  on  sacred  writings. 

A  far  more  important  system  of  modification  orig- 
inated when,  as  in  legislation,  persons  in  authority  de- 
liberately canceled  an  old  custom,  introduced  a  new,  and 
compelled  conformity  to  it.  Roman  judicial  decisions 
under  the  empire,  the  councils  of  the  church,  and  parlia- 
ments or  legislatures  of  all  kinds  furnish  numerous  illus- 
trations of  the  process.  Artificial  or  telic  customs  of 
this  sort  represent  one  of  the  great  achievements  of 
dynamic  civilization,  and  though  legislation  in  morals 
is  often  unwise,  and  is  responsible  for  many  social  evils, 
yet  it  is  destined,  as  it  becomes  scientific,  to  be  one  of 
the  greatest  agencies  of  civilization  for  the  removal 
of  law  or  custom  once  useful,  that  in  process  of  time 
has  become  a  hindrance  to  higher  civilization.  Such 
revisions  of  codes  should  always,  of  course,  be  sustained 
by  public  opinion,  though  they  will  be  voiced  by  the  in- 
stitutional groups  of  society,  and  by  voluntary  organiza- 
tions formed  for  purposes  of  reform. 

Group  Morality. — In  early  civilization  emphasis  is 
placed  wholly  on  group  safety,  and  the  entire  system  of 
morality  is  based  on  group  custom.  The  special  inter- 
ests and  beliefs  of  the  individual,  as  such,  are  of  no  im- 
portance in  comparison  with  the  demands  of  the  group, 
and  he  must  be  prepared  to  sacrifice  life  and  family  at 
the  command  of  the  authorities.    This  social  requirement 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MORALS  287 

has  become  so  ingrained  in  humanity  by  centuries  of  train- 
ing, that  practically  all  persons  still  comply  with  social 
demands.  Whenever  public  opinion  definitely  expresses 
itself,  men  yield  to  its  commands,  even  though,  as  in 
war  at  the  call  of  one's  country,  it  may  involve  the 
loss  of  domestic  comfort,  property,  or  life  itself.  The 
same  devotion  is  found  also  in  the  membership  of  other 
forms  of  group  life,  as  in  domestic  and  religious  groups 
or  societies,  and  in  the  numerous  fraternities  so  common 
even  among  savage  peoples.^  This  group  cohesion  is 
one  of  the  most  valuable  products  of  civilization,  in- 
volving as  it  does  cooperation,  altruism,  and  the  sub- 
ordination of  the  individual  to  general  welfare. 

Opposition  of  Public  and  Private  Interests. — Pub- 
lic opinion  may  demand  even  the  subjection  of  one's 
conscience  to  public  necessity,  as  voiced,  for  example,  in 
Gino  Capponi's  famous  praise  of  those  "who  love  their 
country  better  than  the  safety  of  their  own  souls."® 
Machiavelli's  Prince  is  another  illustration  of  this,  being 
the  familiar  argument  that  for  the  good  of  the  state  one 
may  do  all  manner  of  wickedness,  since  the  end  justifies 
the  means.  Modern  illustrations  are  numerous  enough; 
at  times  persons  of  excellent  morals  will  carry  out  policies 
socially  immoral,  although  seemingly  beneficial  to  the 
group  they  represent.  Hence  we  have  the  odd  paradox  in 
popular  belief  that  a  person  may  rightfully  do  for  the 
group,  what  he  as  an  individual  is  forbidden  by  con- 
science to  do.  As  a  diplomat  or  statesman  he  may  give 
bribes,  betray  confidences,  and  oppress  weaker  nations, 
if  a  favorable  opportunity  offers.  As  a  soldier  in  ser- 
vice he  may  commit  murder  or  rape,  steal  property,  and 
seek  to  inflict  damage  even  on  the  civilians  of  hostile 

'  See,    for    illustrations,    Hutton    Webster,    Primitive    Secret   So- 
cieties. "Villari's  Mochiavellij  vol.  iii,  p.  253, 


288  SOCIOLOGY 

states.  As  the  head  of  a  corporation  he  may  bribe, 
break  laws,  and  steal  franchises  to  the  detriment  of  his 
fellow-citizens.  As  a  politician  he  may  debauch  voters, 
break  the  laws  of  his  country,  and  violate  the  rules  of 
honesty  and  fair  dealing;  and  as  a  lawyer  he  may  use 
chicanery  in  practice,  and  teach  corporations  how  to 
evade  the  laws  he  has  sworn  on  entering  the  legal  profes- 
sion to  uphold. 

In  the  beginnings  of  civilization  there  was  no  such 
chasm  between  public  and  private  interests.  Property 
in  the  main  was  communal,  social  classes  had  not  defi- 
nitely been  fornied,  and  all  shared  alike  in  toil  and  re- 
ward. Under  such  conditions  public  opinion  voiced  by 
custom  was  a  safe  guide,  and  when  a  decision  had  once 
been  made,  opposition  was  probably  selfish  and  rightly 
suppressed.  Distinctions  gradually  crept  in  through  the 
rise  of  classes  and  the  development  of  individuals  who 
dared  to  uphold  their  beliefs  against  group  teachings, 
as  illustrated  by  Antigone,  who  defied  the  orders  of 
the  king  and  obeyed  the  voice  of  an  inner  conscience. 
As  private  property  grew  in  importance  through  the 
rise  of  individual  ownership  of  land,  capital,  privileges, 
and  monopolies,  the  owners  of  this  wealth  developed 
a  code  suited  to  their  own  interests,  and  not  neces- 
sarily identical  with  one  suited  to  the  community  as  a 
whole.  Again,  as  a  leisure  class  arose  and  differentiated 
into  the  nobility  and  the  professional  groups  these  also 
built  up  their  own  codes,  so  that  in  process  of  time  what 
might  be  right  or  moral  for  one  class  might  be  wrong 
or  immoral  for  another.''     Thus,  the  dominant  class  or 

'  A  French  nobleman  of  the  Eighteenth  Century  naively  put  the 
thought  in  this  form:  "God  would  hesitate  a  long  time  before  he 
would  damn  a  gentleman";  who  presumably  was  free  to  indulge 
in  vice  from  which  an  ordinary  man  must  refrain ! 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MORALS  289 

classes,  in  asserting  their  right  to  determine  what  was 
best  for  group  or  race  safety,  naturally  insisted  on  a 
code  suited  to  their  own  interests. 

The  decisions  made  by  these,  however,  might  be  en- 
tirely contrary  to  the  beliefs  of  the  other  classes,  who, 
if  intelligent,  would  be  in  a  dilemma  as  to  whether  they 
should  adhere  to  the  command  of  the  dominant  group 
or  to  the  standards  of  their  own  classes.  Even  in  modern 
days  such  conflicting  standards  are  numerous ;  should,  for 
example.  Friends,  or  other  advocates  of  peace,  be  com- 
pelled to  pay  war  taxes,  and  serve  in  the  army;  are 
men  traitors,  who,  for  moral  reasons,  oppose  the  policy 
of  their  government  while  it  is  engaged  in  war,  as  hap- 
pened in  our  war  with  Mexico  or  Great  Britain's  war 
against  the  Boers;  are  dissenters  rebellious  who  refuse 
to  pay  a  tax  for  the  educational  schools  of  a  state  church ; 
and  should  an  oppressed  mass  of  citizens  fighting  against 
a  tyrannical  government  be  treated  as  rebels  or  as  pa- 
triots?^ History  is  filled  witli  illustrations  of  the  ways 
in  which  social  ethics  may  differentiate  into  class  ethics, 
and  how  each  class  may  possibly  consider  its  standards 
more  worthy  of  obedience  than  the  commands  of  society 
as  a  whole,  if  these  are  voiced  through  a  rival  but  domi- 
nant class. 

The  question  is  still  further  complicated  when  indi- 
viduals in  advance  of  their  age,  or  behind  it,  vigorously 
insist  on  their  right  to  follow  their  own  convictions  as 
to  their  rightful  course  of  action.  Such  a  person  may 
be  bad  or  vicious,  and  insist  on  having  his  own  will 
irrespective  of  general  welfare;  he  may  be  one  who  sees 
more  clearly  the  trend  of  development,  who  abominates 

*  Note,  for  example,  Franklin's  famous  remark  to  the  friends  of 
the  Revolution,     "We  must  all  hang  together  or  hang  separately." 


290  SOCIOLOGY 

passing  standards,  and  is  willing  to  die  fighting  against 
them  and  for  what  he  considers  to  be  right;  or  he  may 
be  a  "superman"  rejoicing  in  his  strength,  trampling  on 
the  conventional,  and  determined  to  force  his  will  on  the 
community  whether  for  weal  or  woe. 

Toleration  in  Morals. — When  society,  in  place  of 
a  simple  general  code  of  morals  binding  on  all  alike, 
finds  itself  thus  torn  by  dissension  among  conflicting 
codes  of  group,  class,  and  individual,  its  alternative  is 
either  to  enforce  vigorously  a  dominant  code  and  stamp 
out  opposition  if  possible,  or  to  become  tolerant,  in- 
sisting merely  on  adherence  to  fundamental  provisions 
and  allowing  a  large  freedom  in  all  other  matters.  In 
democracies  liberty  is  deemed  so  essential,  that  freedom 
to  follow  the  dictates  of  one's  conscience  in  morals,  as 
well  as  in  religion,  is  considered  the  mark  of  a  develop- 
ing civilization.  Consequently  one  of  the  great  socio- 
logical problems  of  the  age  is  to  show  how  an  individual 
may  cheerfully  obey  a  code  set  by  a  group,  and  at  the  same 
time  satisfy  the  dictates  of  his  own  conscience.  In 
other  words  how  can  a  person  be  truly  an  organic  mem- 
ber of  human  society,  and  retain  at  the  same  time  his 
individuality  ? 

The  solution  is  slowly  being  worked  out  in  modern 
social  regulation.  There  is,  for  example,  an  increasing 
recognition  of  the  essential  harmony  of  general  economic 
and  cultural  interests.  In  place  of  fierce  antagonism,  and 
group  and  class  struggle,  there  is  a  slow  movement  to- 
ward reciprocity,  collective  bargaining,  joint  agreement, 
joint  administration,  and  the  arbitration  of  disputes.  The 
personality  of  individuals  is  respected  more  and  more, 
and  a  sort  of  fraternalism  succeeds  class  hostility.  There 
are  international  associations  of  working  men,  interna- 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MORALS  291 

tional  groups  for  economic,  religious,  educational,  and 
scientific  purposes,  and  the  diplomatic  discussions  of  na- 
tions are  inclining  more  and  more  to  international  courts, 
congresses,  and  leagues  of  nations  and  to  joint  action  for 
common  purposes. 

Humanitarian  Ethics. — This  trend  is  powerfully- 
supported  by  the  growth  of  human  altruism.  Within  the 
petty  primitive  group  there  was  sympathy  one  for  an- 
other and  altruistic  activity  for  general  welfare,  but  en- 
mity and  a  policy  of  exploitation  expressed  the  group  at- 
titude toward  all  outside  of  it.  Again,  the  cultural  devel- 
opment of  the  group  was  so  slight  that  what  sympathy  and 
altruism  existed,  was  relatively  of  a  low  order,  involving 
chiefly  the  satisfaction  of  physical  needs.  The  movement 
to  include  within  the  group  as  worthy  of  altruistic 
service  others  than  those  of  one's  kin  or  nationality, 
has  been  remarkably  slow  in  development,  but  modern  il- 
lustrations of  it  can  readily  be  traced  in  the  great  anti- 
slavery  and  missionary  movements  of  the  last  two  hun- 
dred years.  The  world  war  has  temporarily  disrupted  in- 
ternational comity,  so  that  we  are  yet  far  from  an  era  of 
the  brotherhood  of  man,  even  though  religion  theoretically 
assumes  that  "God  .  .  .  made  of  one  blood  all  the  nations 
of  the  earth."  But  when  once  again  men  are  drawn 
closer  together  by  common  interests  and  better  knowl- 
edge of  one  another's  nobler  qualities,  there  may  tend  to 
develop  an  inter-racial  morality  that  will  allow  no  dis- 
tinctions based  on  difference  in  color  or  degree  of  civili- 
zation.   As  Burns  puts  it: 

It's  comin'  yet  for  a'  that ; 
That  man  to  man,  the  warld  o'er. 
Shall  brothers  be  for  a'  that !  ^ 

"Burns,  Is  there,  for  honest  poverty. 


292  SOCIOLOGY 

Modem  Altruism. — In  addition  to  this  broadening 
of  human  relationships  there  has  been  also  a  deepening  of 
the  intensity  of  akruistic  feeling-.  The  simple,  spontaneous 
sympathy  of  natural  kinship  is  unreflecting  and  often  in- 
judicious. It  acts  on  the  impulse  of  the  moment,  with- 
out thought  of  consistency  or  consequences.  But  as  the 
race  develops  in  experience  and  in  mentality,  its  sympa- 
thies become  ordered,  purposive,  and  consistent.  Tem- 
porary alleviation  of  distress  changes  into  a  desire  to 
banish  the  causes  of  misery,  and  spasmodic  altruism  be- 
comes a  humanitarianism  so  generous  in  its  scope  as  to  in- 
clude animal  and  plant  life  and  an  appreciation  of  the 
beauty  of  nature  itself.  This  deepening  of  human  inter- 
ests can  be  traced  best  from  the  Eighteenth  Century, 
when  in  western  Europe,  though  especially  in  France, 
there  came  a  growing  emphasis  on  the  humane  and  the 
natural.  The  strength  of  this  newer  sympathy  can  be 
noted  even  in  the  wild  scenes  of  the  French  Revolution, 
when  the  French  by  legislation  attempted  to  forbid 
cruelty  to  animals,  to  alleviate  the  conditions  of  the  pro- 
letariat, to  exalt  the  status  of  women,  and  to  emphasize 
the  equality  and  fraternity  of  mankind.  From  those 
to  the  present,  in  higher  civilization  cruelty  in  any  form 
whatsoever  has  become  abhorrent,  and  every  attempt  is 
made  to  lessen  the  pain  of  surgery,  the  suffering  of  neg- 
lected childhood,  the  woes  of  a  half-starved  proletariat, 
the  misery  involved  in  crime,  vice,  pauperism,  slavery,  or 
the  ill  treatment  of  animals,^  ^  or  even  wanton  injury  to 
trees  or  natural  scenery. 

Changing  Bases  of  Morality. — This  altruistic  de- 
velopment indicates  the  changing  bases  of  morality.     In 
a  low  economic  civilization  the  cultural  side  of  social 
"  See  Henry  S.  Salt,  Animals'  Rights. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MORALS  293 

life  must  be  correspondingly  simple,  and  morality  con- 
sists of  the  homely  virtues  developed  through  struggle 
against  odds.  When,  however,  economic  conditions  be- 
come complex,  the  earlier  sort  of  morality  expands,  so 
as  to  adjust  itself  to  the  broader  aspects  of  cultural  civili- 
zation. The  morality  of  freedom  succeeds  customary  and 
compulsory  morality.  The  individual  must  move  in  the 
midst  of  a  thousand  temptations  and  yet  exercise  self- 
control.  He  strives  not  so  much  to  avoid  a  penalty  as  to 
learn  how  to  choose  happiness  wisely.  We  are  passing, 
as  Dr.  Patten  puts  it,  from  a  pain  to  a  pleasure  economy. 
We  are  set  against  pain  and  purpose  to  minimize  it.  There 
is  the  desire  to  multiply  the  happiness  of  men  and  to  de- 
velop their  natures,  so  that  they  will  adapt  themselves 
to  newer  standards  of  altruism;  for  we  are  becoming 
deeply  sympathetic  one  with  another  and  will  rest  satis- 
fied only  with  the  perfect  happiness  of  every  man — an 
eternal  task,  since  perfect  happiness  is  always  in  the  fu- 
ture, and  impossible  of  complete  attainment.  Sympathy, 
therefore  will  become  increasingly  positive,  but  in  place 
of  sympathy  with  suffering,  will  come  sympathy  with 
joy  and  happiness,  and  the  kinship  of  kindliness  will  take 
the  place  of  the  primitive  kinship  of  blood.  Like  the  joy 
of  a  mother  as  she  watches  the  play  of  her  children  and 
dreams  of  their  continued  happiness  and  helpfulness  in 
maturity,  so  society  as  a  fostering  parent  will  strive  to 
free  her  children  from  pain,  to  lead  them  into  the  paths 
of  happiness,  and  as  they  mature  will  expect  them  to 
dedicate  their  lives  to  the  common  well-being. 

Much  might  be  done  if  the  State  should  emphasize 
vigorously  a  policy  for  the  upbuilding  of  health,  wealth, 
and  education,  since  it  would  thereby  exert  indirectly  a 
most  significant  influence  on  ethics  and  religion.    Just  as 


294  SOCIOLOGY 

an  individual  may  sin  against  a  religious  code  and  suffer 
eccelesiastical  condemnation,  or  against  a  legal  code  and 
suffer  the  penalty  of  the  law,  so  there  are  in  social  life 
normal  standards  which,  when  violated,  result  in  social 
sin,  with  their  inevitable  evil  consequences.  Drunken- 
ness, sexual  immorality,  crime,  pauperism,  and  disease 
are  chiefly  artificial,  and  are  the  social  consequences  of  a 
defective  civilization.  Society  sins  when  it  allows  ex- 
ploitation of  man  by  man,  or  a  large  per  cent  of  its  citi- 
zenship to  live  at  a  standard  of  bare  subsistence,  or  leaves 
the  nation  in  such  ignorance  that  the  people  know  how 
neither  tO'  ward  off  disease,  nor  to  become  skilled  in  in- 
dustry, nor  to  adapt  themselves  to  an  urban  civilization. 
These  sins  of  society  are  preventable,  and  the  cost  of 
prevention  is  far  less  than  the  cost  of  cure.  It  is  very 
much  cheaper  and  easier  to  prevent  sickness  than  to  pay 
doctors'  bills,  funeral  expenses,  and  the  demands  of  char- 
ity. It  is  far  easier  to  reduce  the  demand  for  liquors 
and  drugs  as  stimulants,  than  to  pay  the  bills  of 
drunkenness,  crime,  and  pauperism. 

By  far  the  larger  half  of  legal  crimes  could  be  wiped  out 
if  criminal  procedure  were  improved  and  educational 
methods  for  misdemeanants  substituted  for  the  jail.  No 
civilized  country  should  be  cursed  with  a  large  per  cent  of 
illiterate  and  unskilled  population.  All  labor  should  be  in- 
telligent and  every  person  skilled  in  some  form  of  indus- 
try, even  the  children  of  the  wealthy.  The  State,  therefore, 
should  devote  itself  wisely  and  judiciously  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  physical  health  of  its  citizens  by  removing 
conditions  that  breed  degeneracy  and  disease;  it  should 
through  science,  invention,  and  carefully  framed  laws, 
build  up  its  wealth  on  democratic  lines,  warring  against  all 
forms  of  exploitation;  and  should,  through  an  education 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MORALS  295 

founded  on  carefully  tested  psychological  theories,  impart 
to  the  citizen  body  a  knowledge  of  personal  hygiene,  social 
sanitation,  and  a  proper  training  in  information  needful 
for  industrial  and  social  life.  Should  it  do  so,  the  State 
would  thereby  so  modify  the  social  conditions  of  life  that 
ethical  and  religious  institutions  would  with  ease  exalt  the 
ideals  of  life  and  develop  a  spiritual  civilization  such  as 
heretofore  society  has  imagined  only  in  Utopian  form. 
Wiser  parents  practise  such  a  policy  In  behalf  of  their  own 
offspring.  By  proper  medical  care  and  nourishing  food, 
by  healthful  and  stimulating  companionship,  and  by  care- 
ful attention  to  the  entire  process  of  education,  they 
strive  to  prepare  an  environment  in  which  the  natural 
capacities  of  the  child  can  expand  into  a  character  able 
to  maintain  and  add  to  the  honor  and  reputation  of  the 
family.  In  the  same  way  the  State,  by  devoting  itself 
assiduously  to  the  development  of  an  environment  able 
to  call  out  the  best  within  its  racial  stock,  will  reap  its  re- 
ward in  the  moral  earnestness  and  intelligent  capacity  of 
its  citizens. ^^ 

Idealism  in  Morals. — This  coming  stage  In  ethical 
standards  will  be  brought  about  by  the  telle  development 
of  moral  ideals  In  harmony  with  Improving  social  condi- 
tions. Prohibitive  codes  and  minute  regulations  of  all 
sorts  are  already  rapidly  becoming  obsolete;  a  full  free- 
dom of  conscience  must  be  maintained,  to  be  sure,  but 
a  wise  social  policy  will  see  to  it  that  Individual  minds 
are  trained  under  such  stimulating  surroundings  that 
they  will  easily  and  spontaneously  turn  toward  the  nobler 
standards  of  action.  The  doctrine  of  the  innate  depravity 
of  man  has  fortunately  gone  to  join  the  hell  from  which 

"  See  author's  pamphlet  on  Ethical  and  Religious  Significance  of 
the  State. 


296  SOCIOLOGY 

it  sprang,  and  in  place  of  it  religion  teaches  men  to  be- 
lieve in  the  essential  Godlikeness  of  humanity.  The  goal, 
therefore,  in  social  ethics  is  plain ;  on  the  assumption  that 
men  prefer  right  to  wrong  under  proper  conditions  in 
life,  the  aim  of  ethical  reforms  should  be  to  moralize 
the  conditions  of  human  existence  through  economic 
changes,  to  stimulate  moral  idealism  by  wiser  education 
and  training,  to  remove  as  rapidly  as  possible  from  our 
codes  prohibitions  and  restraints,  and  at  the  same  time, 
by  the  pressure  of  intelligent  public  opinion,  tO'  guide 
human  conduct  along  lines  that  racial  experience  and  re- 
flection have  shown  to  be  productive  of  race  safety  and 
human  happiness. 


CHAPTER  XIX 


CULTURAL  DEVELOPMENT 


Basis  of  Cultural  Civilization. — When  Plato  in  his 
Republic  tried,  for  argument's  sake,  to  depict  the  delights 
of  the  simple  life,  fastidious  Glaucon  protested  on  the 
ground  that  such  an  existence  was  more  suited  to  a  com- 
munity of  swine  than  of  men.^  A  similar  objection 
would  hold  in  regard  to  a  civilization  based  merely  on 
material  achievement.  If  physical  enjoyment  and  the 
amassing  of  wealth  were  the  final  pursuits  of  society, 
others  besides  Huxley  would  wish  for  a  kindly  comet 
to  come  and  sweep  away  the  earth  into  primitive  chaos. 
Yet  in  social  evolution  all  things  are  traceable  to  hum- 
ble origins,  and  the  Greek  ideals  of  the  good,  the  beauti- 
ful, and  the  true,  are,  after  all,  mere  by-products  of  the 
material  and  the  useful. 

The  chief  defect  of  Indian  philosophy  is  the  neglect 
of  this  principle.  Its  philosophers  in  their  search  for 
truth  failed  to  see  the  necessity  of  scientific  knowledge 
as  a  basis  for  a  developed  material  civilization,  which 
in  its  turn  would  be  a  basis  for  art  and  philosophy.  They 
fixed  their  attention  on  transcendental  themes,  to  the  neg- 
lect of  the  world  of  activity,  which  indeed  to  them  seemed 
mere  illusion  in  comparison  to  absorption  in  the  infinite. 
By  this  reversion  of  the  natural  order  of  social  evolution, 
India  developed  marvelous  systems  of  religion  and  phi- 
losophy, well  worthy  of  profoundest  respect,  the  effect  of 

*Book  II,  Sec.  Z72. 

297 


298  SOCIOLOGY 

which,  however,  has  been  to  deaden  social  energy  and  to 
heap  up  an  endless  burden  of  ritualism  and  superstition 
on  an  inert  and  poverty-stricken  population.  Had  that 
same  intellectual  capacity  devoted  itself  to  scientific 
achievement,  yoking  in  that  way  intellectuality  and  ma- 
terial progress,  India  would  now  in  all  probability  be  a 
dominant  federation  of  nations,  wealthy  and  powerful, 
having  all  the  conditions  for  cultural  civilization,  and  it 
would  supply  to  the  world  a  philosophy  less  transcen- 
dental presumably,  but  more  true  to  science.  For  through 
material  attainment  only  does  it  become  possbile  to  free 
a  relatively  large  part  of  a  population  from  economic 
slavery,  and  to  make  knowledge  accessible  to  all. 

As  long  as  a  civilization  is  agricultural,  neglecting 
commerce  and  manufactures,  it  is  impossible  to  amass  a 
surplus  for  the  comfortable  support  of  a  relatively  large 
leisure  class.  Increased  wealth  in  the  community  makes 
possible  a  wide  diffusion  of  knowledge  and  the  utiliza- 
tion of  dormant  mental  energy.  Capacity  for  the  highest 
mentality  is  potential  in  the  humblest  human  stock,  but 
can  be  called  forth  only  by  generations  of  training  under 
favorable  conditions.  These,  in  the  form  of  leisure 
and  a  stimulating  mental  environment,  have  come  to 
some  extent  to-day,  when  a  man  by  his  comprehension  of 
nature  is  enabled  to  perform  through  machinery  the  work 
of  a  thousand  men.  It  is  important,  therefore,  to  see 
that  sociological  theory  emphasizes  the  material  as  funda- 
mental, not  because  it  is  relatively  better  than  the  cultural, 
but  because  without  it  cultural  civilization  becomes  fan- 
tastic in  aim,  the  monopoly  of  a  few,  and  the  adornment 
of  a  class,  rather  than  the  inspiration  of  a  people. 

Grovi^th  of  Cultural  Achievements. — Ethnological 
studies  show  clearly  how  readily  the  human  mind,  when 


CULTURAL  DEVELOPMENl  299 

bodily  wants  are  satisfied,  and  foods  are  abundant,  turns 
toward  the  aesthetic,  and  reflects  on  the  moralities  of  hu- 
man relationships  and  on  the  supernatural.  For  under 
such  conditions  social  companionship  becomes  possible, 
language  grows  by  use,  there  is  a  play  of  mind  on  mind, 
and  kindlier  feelings  are  developed.  Every  achievement 
out  of  the  usual  attracts  attention,  and  by  imitation  be- 
comes a  group  possession;  reminiscences  and  interpreta- 
tions of  experiences  are  exchanged,  and  the  mind,  re- 
ceptive to  such  knowledge,  becomes  stored  with  useful  in- 
formation. Combinations  of  color,  the  rhythm  of  mo- 
tion and  tone,  early  captivated  men's  imagination,  and  the 
beauty  of  the  celestial  bodies  and  the  blue  sky  called  out  a 
reverence  for  something  bigger  and  better  than  the  petty 
round  of  material  experience.  These  higher  appreciations 
reacted  on  the  routine  of  their  daily  life,  so  that  they  saw 
beauty  in  the  sheltering  tree,  in  the  spring  that  supplied 
refreshing  water,  in  the  friendly  faces  of  companions, 
and  in  the  graceful  gamboling  of  playing  children.^  Then 
they  strove  to  actualize  their  aesthetic  imaginings,  and 
made  constant  attempts  to  adorn  their  utensils,  weapons, 
and  habitations,  and  to  beautify  their  bodies  by  ornamen- 
tation and  clothing,  itself  probably  chiefly  intended  then 
and  largely  even  now  for  purposes  of  adornment.  Under 
such  influences  by  slow  degrees  through  selective  proc- 
esses the  human  nervous  system  became  differentiated, 
so  as  to  respond  to  higher  emotions,  so  that  men  sought  to 
satisfy  the  craving  for  the  thrill  and  ecstasy  of  life  by 
rude  attempts  in  dancing,  music,  poetry,  and  the  drama ; 
and,  as  the  hand  became  flexible,  in  symbolic  drawings. 
As  the  intellect  became  able  to  concentrate  its  attention 

'For   studies   showing  the   social   importance    of    play,    see    Karl 
Groos,  The  Play  of  Animals  and  The  Play  of  Man. 


300  SOCIOLOGY 

on  the  properties  and  relationships  of  things,  as  well  as 
on  things  themselves,  there  came  notions  of  goodness 
based  on  an  appreciation  of  what  was  safe  for  the  group, 
and  the  conclusion  that  what  the  group  considered  use- 
ful, good,  and  beautiful  was  also  true,  and  as  truth  should 
be  fixed  by  custom  and  held  sacred. 

Static  Standards. — As  these  standards  became  hal- 
lowed by  time,  they  became  conventionalized  and  tended 
to  arrest  the  progress  of  civilization.  Set  customs,  beliefs, 
and  standards  hold  men  in  bondage  to  a  dead  ancestry,  so 
that  the  very  goodness  of  the  past  may  become  a  curse 
to  the  present.  As  the  Greeks  used  to  say,  "the  good  is 
often  the  enemy  of  the  best."  Civilization  attains  a  rela- 
tive goodness,  sanctions  it,  passes  it  on  by  custom  and 
tradition,  and  then  easily  assumes  that  anything  in 
opposition  is  false  and  bad.  Even  in  the  United  States  to 
be  charged  with  heresy  and  radicalism  is  a  serious  crime 
in  popular  estimation,  but  in  static  civilization  it  is  high 
treason  and  the  unpardonable  sin. 

D)mamic  Changes  in  Cultural  Ideals. — The  funda- 
mental conditions  of  social  life  have  often,  however,  been 
upset  by  war  or  by  economic  necessity  or  by  some  great 
inventive  achievement,  and  in  consequence  newer  cultural 
ideals  have  arisen.  This  difference  may  be  introduced  by 
the  differing  ideals  of  the  conquerors,  or  mentality  may 
quicken  through  social  friction,  and  cultural  standards 
develop  to  a  higher  plane  in  the  minds  of  the  leisure 
class.  These  standards  by  imitation,  conscious  or  uncon- 
scious, would  pass  down  into  the  mass  of  the  race  and 
thus  slowly  supersede  lower  standards.  By  repeated 
changes  of  this  sort  there  would  develop  constantly  rising 
standards  of  cultural  civilization,  and  slow  progress 
would  take  place.    If  on  the  other  hand  the  material  con- 


CULTURAL  DEVELOPMENT  301 

ditions  of  life  should  become  steadily  worse  for  a  given 
race,  degeneration  would  follow;  for  a  people,  like  an 
individual,  sinks  into  degradation  when  it  loses  its  self- 
respect. 

The  Leisure  Class. — Fortunately  for  cultural  civili- 
zation dynamic  changes  developed  a  class  of  masterful 
persons  who  attained  for  themselves  wealth  and  leisure. 
Out  of  this  class,  freed  from  economic  struggle,  came 
a  long  Hne  of  statesmen,  warriors,  priests,  idealists,  and 
thinkers,  who  devoted  themselves  to  cultural  achieve- 
ments, and  thus  gave  a  mighty  impetus  to  higher  civiliza- 
tion. The  members  of  a  leisure  class  with  relatively  pow- 
erful mentality,  debarred  by  custom  from  participation 
in  menial  industrial  pursuits  or  trade,  must  turn  their 
energy  either  into  wasteful  or  else  apparently  non-useful 
directions.  They  may  devote  themselves  mainly  to  dissi- 
pation, to  games  and  athletic  exercises,  or  to  ceremonial 
social  life;  or  they  may  seek  to  occupy  their  minds  with 
aesthetic  and  intellectual  pursuits,  devoting  themselves  to 
art,  music,  literature,  and  the  drama,  or  to  science  and 
philosophy.  Doubtless  a  large  part  of  the  energy  of 
the  leisure  class  was  wasted  or  worse  than  wasted,  but 
here  and  there,  tasks  undertaken  so  as  to  escape  ennui, 
the  curse  of  leisure,  became  in  process  of  time  pleasur- 
able in  themselves,  so  that  many  persons  became  really 
fond  of  the  aesthetic  and  intellectual.  Their  manifest 
delight  in  their  new  occupations  stimulated  others  to 
like  pursuits,  and  created  a  feeling  of  emulation,  so  that 
gradually  there  arose  a  conviction  that  mental  and  social 
superiority  were  indicated  by  the  possession  of  cultural 
desires  and  by  a  knowledge  of  cultural  achievements. 
Then  began  that  movement  toward  cultural  civilization 
into  which  mankind  is  slowly  passing  at  the  present  time. 


302  SOCIOLOGY 

Cultural  knowledge  and  desires  have  so  far  come  to  be 
considered  the  mark  of  high  breeding,  that  every  person 
who  aspires  to  be  ranked  high  in  social  estimation  must 
at  any  rate  have  the  appearance  of  culture,  whatever  his 
actual  possession  may  be. 

A  New  Slavery. — Hence,  historically  speaking,  the 
children  of  the  leisure  class  were  tO'  some  extent  with- 
drawn from  play  and  natural  pursuits  and  compelled 
to  spend  long  hours  in  study,  with  the  hope  that  they 
might  attain  a  love  for  the  sesthetic  and  the  philosophic, 
or  at  any  rate  might  seem  to  have  a  knowledge  of  these 
cultural  accomplishments.  In  essence  this  is  a  kind  of 
slavery.  Just  as  forced  labor  selected  a  type  of  man 
who  had  a  fondness  for  physical  exercise  and  work,  so 
compulsory  service  in  mental  toil,  it  is  thought,  may  create 
ultimately  a  taste  for  higher  education,  the  shibboleth  of 
modern  society.  This  newer  slavery,  like  economic  slav- 
ery, has  its  good  and  bad  aspects.  Economic  slavery  is 
certainly  evil  in  that  it  emphasizes  a  dull  and  monotonous 
routine  of  tiresome  labor,  without  incentive,  and  lack- 
ing all  stimulus  to  higher  achievement.  On  the  other 
hand,  slavery  has  a  distinct  utility,  when  it  accustoms 
men  to  work  and  produces  economic  results ;  sO'  also'  there 
may  be  a  utility  in  compulsory  mental  work  if  it  result 
in  mental  training.  Yet  the  treadmill  of  higher  education, 
in  so  far  as  it  reproduces  slavery  in  the  intellectual  field, 
has  its  evil  aspect.  As  in  the  classical  education  of  the 
Chinese,  or  the  traditional  curriculum  of  old-fashioned 
colleges,  obsolete  teachings,  once  noble  and  inspiring,  may 
be  so  spun  out  into  endless  detail  as  to  produce  ineffable 
weariness  in  the  mind  of  the  student,  who  in  daily  life 
lives  in  an  entirely  different  atmosphere.  Yet  the  riiind 
by  endless  repetition  may  become  so  used  to  its  routine 


CULTURAL  DEVELOPMENT  303 

as  to  like  it,  and  may  become  blinded  to  higher  and 
broader  achievements  through  devotion  to  the  dead ;  like 
the  ass  that,  released  from  the  weary  path  of  the  mill- 
stone, still  treads  it  out  of  habit,  to  the  neglect  of  the 
clover  fields  beyond. 

Higher  Education  for  the  Elite  Only. — One  should 
never  forget  that  compulsion  and  slavery  are  marks  of 
low  civilization,  and  best  suited  to  the  conditions  and 
needs  of  primitive  humanity.  It  seems  like  a  contradic- 
tion of  terms  to  think  of  compulsion  in  higher  education, 
as  though  Socrates  or  Plato  should  compel  his  students 
to  recite  on  Attic  philosophy,  or  insist  that  they  display 
high  intelligence  in  their  replies  to  interrogations,  under 
penalty  of  expulsion.  If  Greeks  are  made  slaves,  one 
feels  the  incongruity  of  it.  Compulsory  education  given 
from  the  view  point  of  mental  gymnastics,  dulls  the  mind, 
destroys  the  incentive  to  achievement,  and  develops  prigs 
and  pedants  instead  of  an  elite.  In  other  words  cultural 
educatioti  should  not  be  imparted  merely  to  children  of  a 
wealthy  class  as  a  mark  of  social  superiority,  and  should 
never  be  presented  in  traditional  forms.  Rather  it  should 
be  held  out  in  its  highest  and  most  inspiring  forms  as  a 
prize  for  the  capable,  made  accessible  even  to  the  hum- 
blest born;  and  those  only  should  be  encouraged  to  at- 
tain it  who  feel  in  their  hearts  the  desire  to  get  beyond 
the  material  and  to  grasp  after  the  ideals  of  higher  civi- 
Hzation. 

The  Receptive  Mind. — There  is  a  certain  kind  of 
mind  that  even  in  childhood  begins  to  manifest  its  su- 
periority by  the  receptive  manner  in  which  it  holds  it- 
self toward  the  world  round  about.  There  are  eyes 
that  see  not  and  ears  that  hear  not,  but  a  mind  which  has 
the  scientific  faculty  of  observation  is  different  in  quality. 


304  SOCIOLOGY 

It  sees,  compares,  and  classifies,  thus  storing  up  ideas 
and  judgments  for  future  use.  If  it  then  has  presented 
to  it  a  developing  series  of  useful  information  and  knowl- 
edge, with  hints  as  to  possible  attainments  in  the  future, 
imagination  begins  to  work  on  the  material  already  ac- 
quired, and  to  reshape  it  into  creative  forms.  If  the  mind, 
for  example,  is  made  familiar  with  tools,  the  properties 
of  matter,  and  the  utilization  of  natural  energy,  it  turns 
intuitively  into  the  direction  of  invention,  and  by  experi- 
mentation endeavors  to  make  an  improvement  in  some 
familiar  field,  or  from  known  laws  and  principles  seeks 
to  work  out  in  the  laboratory  a  new  scientific  truth. 
If,  again,  the  mind  becomes  familiar  with  sesthetic 
standards,  during  adolescence  its  higher  emotions  will 
turn  toward  ideals  of  beauty  in  form,  color,  or  sound, 
and  in  sculpture,  painting,  or  music  will  seek  to  embody 
in  tangible  shape  the  ideals  of  the  imagination  strug- 
gling for  expression.  As  the  years  of  maturity  approach, 
a  comprehension  of  nature  and  of  sesthetic  standards  lead 
it  to  ideals  of  goodness  and  truth,  and  the  great  principles 
of  ethics  and  philosophy  fascinate  one's  attention.  From 
that  time  forth  the  student  has  sounded  the  possibilities  of 
human  experience  and  is  prepared  to  take  his  place  in 
the  life  of  his  generation.  He  has  passed  from  the  ma- 
terial to  the  sesthetic,  and  thence  to  the  moral  and  the  in- 
tellectual. He  appreciates  both  the  worth  of  economic 
principles  and  the  value  of  culture,  and  has  become  in 
the  proper  sense  of  the  term  educated. 

Yet  this  is  by  no  means  a  common  experience.  Many 
children  through  heredity  are  hopelessly  dull  and  unim- 
aginative. Many  more  are  made  so  by  defective  train- 
ing in  home  or  school,  so  that  the  higher  capacities  of 
their  minds  become  atrophied.     Others  may  become  ex- 


CULTURAL  DEVELOPMENT  305 

pert  in  inventive  directions  but  may  never  gain  ap- 
preciation of  the  cultural  elements  of  life.  Others  again 
may  develop  the  aesthetic  but  not  the  moral  or  the  intel- 
lecual,  and  become  perverts,  socially  injurious  in  spite  of 
their  artistic  qualifications.  Or  the  moral  may  be  devel- 
oped without  the  intellectual,  or  the  intellectual  without 
the  moral,  or,  as  so  commonly  is  the  case,  persons  may 
be  trained  in  all  of  these,  but  so  defectively  in  method 
or  in  accuracy,  that  they  are  seriously  handicapped  by  the 
necessity  of  rejecting  in  the  future  much  of  their  past 
instruction. 

Social  Importance  of  Cultural  Achievement. — Yet 
the  hope  of  future  improvement  in  higher  civilization 
lies  in  the  possibility  of  the  multiplication  of  cultural 
achievement.  Life  must  really  be  made  worth  living,  not 
for  the  few  only,  but  for  the  many.  At  present  it  is  a 
mere  existence  to  most,  often  unendurable,  and  fre- 
quently evaded  by  suicide.  The  pleasures  of  physical 
appetites,  even  if  abundantly  satisfied,  as  is  rarely  the 
case,  are  short  in  duration  and  decrease  in  intensity  with 
age.  A  joyless  old  age  is  inevitable  for  those  who  live 
for  physical  gratification  only.  Even  if  happiness  is 
found  in  economic  pursuit  and  the  amassing  of  wealth, 
absorption  in  this  alone  dwarfs  a  man's  intellect  and 
starves  his  soul.  Economic  attainment  and  achievement 
are  fundamental  to  the  individual  as  well  as  tO'  society, 
but  chiefly  as  the  means  through  which  he  may  cultivate 
a  love  for  art,  a  thirst  for  knowledge,  and  the  joy  of 
achievement.  The  happiness  in  cultural  attainment  is 
permanent,  for  it  is  easily  recalled  to  the  memory, 
strengthens  by  use,  and  remains  through  life.  The  physi- 
cal passions  and  appetites  are  few  in  number,  are  easily 
satiated,  and  over-indulgence  becomes  painful;  but  the 


3o6  SOCIOLOGY 

aesthetic,  moral,  and  intellectual  desires  are  innumerable, 
and  the  more  one  develops  his  capacity  in  these  direc- 
tions, the  greater  becomes  the  number  of  possibilities  for 
their  satisfaction  and  his  happiness.  When  such  ideals 
as  these  possess  the  mind,  it  becomes  absorbed  in  them 
to  the  exclusion  of  vice  and  dissipation.  The  higher 
subordinates  the  lower,  and  the  person  has,  sociologi- 
cally speaking,  passed  from  death  unto  life  and  "become 
converted." 

The  Telic  Achievement  of  Culture. — For  such  rea- 
sons the  social  importance  of  having  a  fraction,  at  least, 
of  society  set  apart  for  cultural  achievement  should  be 
fully  recognized.  In  genetic  civilization  this,  of  course, 
is  done  by  separating  from  the  mass  a  nobility  or  a 
professional  class,  freeing  them  from  the  necessity  of 
economic  toil,  and  then  in  a  sense  trusting  to  luck  that 
they  will  produce  a  cultural  civilization  worthy  of  the 
group.  Whether  or  not  this  is  the  result,  it  is,  at  all 
events,  like  all  genetic  achievement,  highly  expensive  in 
proportion  to  the  benefits  received.  Not  only  do  these 
classes  achieve  much  that  is  socially  injurious  along  with 
the  beneficial,  but  the  good  relatively  decreases  as  the 
classes  become  hereditary.  If  a  noble  and  professional 
class  were  made  up  only  of  those  who  had  shown  their 
capacity  by  their  deeds,  it  might  well  be  given  generous 
economic  support,  so  as  to  induce  it  to  continue  its 
achievements.  An  hereditary  class,  however,  produces 
the  usual  per  cent  of  dullards  and  aimless  individuals, 
who  naturally  should  drop  back  into  the  ranks  of  indus- 
trial workers,  but  who  instead  are  supported  at  the  ex- 
pense of  society  and  become  social  drones  and  parasites. 

A  Career  for  Talent. — The  first  great  demand, 
therefore,  in  social  theorizing  in  regard  to  the  leisure 


CULTURAL  DEVELOPMENT  307 

class  is  that  membership  in  it  be  thrown  open  to  competi- 
tion. Plato  in  his  Republic  advocated  such  a  system 
and  would  have  the  highest  positions  in  society  open  to 
the  most  capable  citizens,  irrespective  of  rank  or  sex. 
The  ancient  Chinese  system  of  office  holding  is  based 
on  the  same  idea,  and,  aside  from  the  fact  that  the  stand- 
ards of  success  demanded  a  mastery  of  antiquated  knowl- 
edge, if  honestly  administered  would  be  most  excellent. 
At  any  rate  one  of  the  most  important  developments  in 
social  history  is  the  rise  of  a  demand  that  an  hereditary 
leisure  class  shall  give  place  to  one  chosen  for  capacity 
and  achievement.  As  Napoleon  put  it,  there  was  a  mar- 
shal's baton  in  the  knapsack  of  every  French  soldier;  and 
in  recent  years  we  have  seen  a  saddler  mount  to  the  head- 
ship of  sixty  millions  of  people  and  two  exiled  outcasts 
rule  the  Russias  in  place  of  the  Tsar. 

This  democratic  movement  we  already  see  in  process 
of  consummation.  In  nearly  all  civilized  countries  men 
from  low  ranks  may  push  to  the  front,  lead  armies,  gov- 
ern nations,  manage  great  economic  interests,  enter  the 
professions,  or  aspire  to  become  the  artists  and  philos- 
ophers of  the  age.  In  consequence  of  this  change  many 
offices  formerly  unsalaried  are  now  salaried,  so  as  to  fur- 
nish a  means  of  support  to  their  holders;  fees,  patents, 
and  copyrights  supply  income,  and  artistic  achievements 
find  a  ready  sale  in  the  markets.  Membership  in  the  leisure 
class,  therefore,  is  in  part  on  a  competitive  basis;  it  is 
thrown  open  to  all  members  of  society,  and  economic  sup- 
port is  freely  given  from  the  returns  of  industrial  produc- 
tion to  those  who  maintain  cultural  achievement. 

Genetic  Choice. — There  are,  however,  other  pos- 
sibilities of  improvement  in  connection  with  the  leisure 
class.     Membership  in  it  is  filled  by  genetic  not  telic 


3o8  SOCIOLOGY 

choice,  and  here  again  much  social  waste  is  inevitable. 
Society  makes  no  attempt  to  select  its  capable  citizens 
and  train  them  for  cultural  achievement.  It  waits  until 
a  person  has  fought  his  way  to  notice  and  made  his 
achievement,  and  then  receives  him  into  the  charmed 
circle  of  leisure.  The  theor}-  in  justification  of  this  is  that 
a  talented  person  or  a  genius  will  inevitably  become  fa- 
mous, and  that  the  very  process  of  intensive  struggle  is 
essential  to  greatness.  There  is,  of  course,  some  truth 
in  this;  some  great  men  do  struggle  up  from  the  ranks 
to  leadership,  and  a  certain  kind  of  greatness  is  best  de- 
veloped in  the  school  of  hard  knocks. 

The  question  arises,  however,  whether  many  naturally 
gifted  persons  are  not  physically  and  mentally  stunted 
by  the  wretched  environment  of  their  early  youth; 
whether  many  others  are  not  so  poorly  circumstanced 
through  poverty  and  the  lack  of  stimulating  mental  sur- 
roundings, that  the  energy  of  their  minds  is  expended 
in  inferior  directions;  whether  others  again  are  not  dis- 
torted by  unscientific  education,  so  that  they  never  at- 
tain to  their  real  possibilities;  and  whether,  finally,  there 
are  not  some  natures  so  sensitive  and  refined,  that  their 
best  products  become  blighted  in  a  keenly  competitive 
system,  so  that  the  aggressive  only  survives  but  not  the 
ethereal  and  the  spiritual.  "In  quietness  the  divine  is 
born,"  not  in  Wall  Street  or  in  the  stock  yards  of  Chi- 
cago. 

Latent  Talent  and  Genius. — Gray's  Elegy  in  a 
Country  Churchyard  is  an  apt  illustration  of  the  newer 
thought.  There  is  latent  in  the  mass  of  mankind,  of 
whatever  degree  of  civilization,  a  very  much  larger  per 
cent  of  talent  and  genius  than  ever  will  come  to  notice 
through  its  own  unaided  exertions,  and  some  method 


CULTURAL  DEVELOPMENT  309 

should  be  devised  whereby  this  potential  capacity,  so 
greatly  needed  by  society,  may  be  developed  and  utilized 
for  cultural  achievement.^ 

There  is  undoubtedly  latent  in  every  society  an  enor- 
mous amount  of  capacity  for  material  invention,  only 
awaiting  proper  training  and  opportunity  for  useful- 
ness. In  the  same  manner  right  training  and  opportunity 
in  cultural  civilization  for  all  would  call  out  latent  power 
that  would  enrich  with  its  achievements  the  society  that 
gave  it  life  and  nurture.  If  children  at  birth  are  favored 
with  a  normal  physique  and  mentality,  are  wisely  trained 
in  body  and  mind,  are  freed  from  the  handicap  of  ex- 
treme poverty,  surrounded  by  the  evidences  of  cultural 
life,  and  stimulated  by  contact  with  higher  education,  all 
the  conditions  are  present  that  should  result  in  the  de- 
velopment of  whatever  talent  and  genius  there  is.  Then 
if  society  is  dynamic,  abundant  opportunity  will  arise 
and  allow  expression  to  talent  or  genius.  It  matters  lit- 
tle whether  this  be  in  one  direction  or  another.  Rarely 
does  it  happen  that  talent  is  suited  to  one  occupation  only. 
Any  sphere  of  activity  that  opens  itself  is  sufficient,  for, 
pent-up  energy,  guided  by  a  well-trained  intellect,  soon 
finds  its  appropriate  task  and  will  achieve  in  almost  any 
conceivable  direction.  One  of  the  chief  aims  of  society, 
therefore,  should  be  to  provide  for  its  citizens  a  health- 
ful physical  and  economic  environment,  favoring  en- 
vironment in  the  way  of  libraries,  museums,  art  insti- 
tutes and  kindred  cultural  agencies,  and  provisions  for 
carefully  planned  systems  of  education.  Its  reward  will 
come  in  the  material  and  cultural  achievements  made  by 
its  citizens. 
*  See  Chapter  XX. 


310  SOCIOLOGY 

Leisure  and  the  Industries. — There  is  still  another 
point  needing  attention  in  respect  to  the  leisure  class. 
To  many  it  seems  unfair  that  society  should  be  divided, 
even  if  intelligently  done,  into  a  leisure  class  and  a  class 
of  industrial  workers.  It  is  argued  that  the  leisure  class 
also  should  engage  in  industrial  labor,  so  as  to  keep  in 
touch  with  the  material  side  of  civilization  and  thus  be 
identified  with  humanity  as  a  whole;  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  is  asserted  that  the  industrial  class  should  be 
allowed  leisure  in  order  that  they  might  make  some  at- 
tainment in  cultural  knowledge  and  share  to  a  small  ex- 
tent, at  least,  in  its  achievements.  From  the  sociological 
standpoint  the  force  of  the  argument  must  be  admitted. 
Permanently  mankind  cannot  remain  half  cultural,  half 
industrial  in  occupation.  Yet  if  participation  in  indus- 
trial life  by  the  leisure  class  meant  a  lessening  of  achieve- 
ment in  cultural  civilization,  it  would  be  more  expedient 
to  condone  a  social  cleavage  than  to  lessen  the  output  of 
higher  civilization. 

Indications,  however,  are  pointing  to  a  possible  solu- 
tion that  in  process  of  time  may  solve  the  dilemma.  As 
man  advances  in  knowledge  he  learns  how  more  effec- 
tively to  master  nature,  to  manipulate  its  resources  at 
will,  and  to  harness  for  his  purposes  its  energy  and  pro- 
ductivity. Each  forward  step  implies  that  men  shall 
henceforth  rely  less  on  their  own  muscular  exertions 
and  more  on  mental  capacity.  The  mechanical,  routine 
drudgery  of  life  is  slowly  passing  away,  and  in  its  place 
is  coming  a  demand  for  trained  intellect  utilizing  machin- 
ery. But  this  implies  far  greater  productivity  for  the 
same  amount  of  human  energy.  Hence  it  is  becoming 
possible  to  reduce  the  necessary  hours  of  daily  labor 
from  fifteen  to  twelve,  from  twelve  to  ten,  from  ten  to 


CULTURAL  DEVELOPMENT  311 

nine,  from  nine  to  eight,  and  the  time  will  yet  come  when 
from  three  to  four  hours  per  day  will  be  ample  for  all 
purposes.  As  the  working  day  decreases  in  length,  the 
worker  will  find  himself  with  abundant  leisure  on  his 
hands,  and  he  also  will  find  pleasure  in  the  arts,  in  sci- 
ence, and  in  philosophic  meditation.  In  short,  all  will 
become  members  of  the  leisure  class,  for  all  will  have 
energy  and  opportunity  for  the  cultivation  of  the  higher 
life.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  sociology  insists  on  the  final 
elimination  of  unskilled  and  wretchedly  paid  labor  and  the 
substitution  of  machinery  for  it.  With  it  will  go  the 
large  family  of  the  improvident,  reared  in  crowded  tene- 
ments and  so  prolific  in  vice,  crime,  and  pauperism.  When 
unskilled  labor  and  ignorance  disappear  from  civilization, 
the  social  reformer  will  at  last  come  into  his  own,  and 
Utopians  may  rest  in  peace. 

The  Real  Classes  in  Society. — Sociology,  therefore, 
is  in  essence  neither  aristocratic  nor  democratic,  but  pre- 
fers a  synthesis  of  these  social  ideals.  All  are  called  to 
social  achievement,  many  strive  to  accomplish,  and  some 
succeed  beyond  their  early  dreams.  The  real  elite  in  so- 
ciety, the  real  aristocracy,  is  made  up  of  those  who  add 
to  or  improve  the  sum  total  of  social  achievement. 
Whether  this  be  done  in  the  industrial  world  or  in  the 
realms  of  morals  and  religion,  of  art,  science,  or  philos- 
ophy, whoever  improves  the  conditions  of  social  life,  who 
adds  to  the  happiness  of  his  fellows,  who  builds  up  the 
material  and  spiritual  capacity  of  the  race,  is  to  the  ex- 
tent of  his  achievement  a  member  of  the  aristocracy  of 
civilization.  There  are  many,  to  be  sure,  who  for  special 
reasons  cannot  count  themselves  among  the  great.  Yet 
as  long  as  they  turn  their  faces  toward  the  light  and 
struggle  manfully  to  impart  to  their  children  wiser  and 


312  SOCIOLOGY 

better  training  than  they  themselves  had,  they  form  that 
sturdy  stocl<:  from  whose  descendants  in  later  generations 
society  will  constantly  recruit  the  ranks  of  the  coming 
nobility.^ 

At  the  bottom  of  the  scale  are  the  social  parasites  for 
whom  improvement  or  extermination  must  be  the  alter- 
natives. No  society  can  afford  permanently  to  support  a 
mass  of  idlers  made  up  of  the  unemployed  rich,  those 
engaged  in  useless  occupations,  and  the  commonplace 
tramp,  criminal,  and  pauper.  Much  of  this  idleness  is 
due  to  defective  social  arrangements  in  respect  to  inherit- 
ance, industry,  and  education.  But  unquestionably  one 
of  the  first  fruits  of  the  development  of  a  higher  culture 
must  be  the  gradual  elimination  of  all  forms  of  social 
parasitism,  so  as  to  have  those  only  enjoy  the  blessings 
of  civilization  who  contribute  their  share  toward  the  up- 
building of  all  that  makes  life  worth  living, 

*  See  H.  G.   Wells,  A  Modern  Utopia,  and  note  how  he  works 
out  this  thought  in  his  Order  of  the  Samuri. 


CHAPTER  XX 

SOCIAL  GRADATIONS  AND  GENIUS 

The  Average  Man. — In  modern  statistics  the  theory 
of  averages  plays  an  important  part.  Oiietelet,  for  ex- 
ample, who  may  be  considered  as  the  first  to  apply  defi- 
nitely statistics  to  social  phenomena,  developed  the  no- 
tion that  in  any  social  group  there  is  an  average  man 
w^ho  is  the  type  of  masses  of  persons  composing  the 
group.  As  variations  from  the  average  man  will  be 
found  those  above  or  below  the  average,  who  are  from 
that  standpoint  abnormal  even  though  those  above  the 
average  are  obviously  men  of  talent  and  genius.  If, 
therefore,  the  population  of  any  considerable  social 
group  were  arranged  on  a  scale  in  the  order  of  their  so- 
cial importance,  the  mass  of  the  population  would  be 
found  ranged  about  the  middle  of  the  scale,  above  and 
below,  and  above  the  mass  there  would  be  a  superior, 
and  below,  an  inferior  class,  each  of  these  including  a 
relatively  small  part  of  the  population.  In  different  so- 
cial groups  the  exact  fractions  of  the  scale  occupied  by 
the  masses  and  the  superior  and  inferior  classes  would 
depend  on  the  economic  conditions  and  general  intelli- 
gence of  the  particular  group.  In  social  discussions, 
therefore,  attention  may  be  directed  to  the  average  man 
or  the  masses,  or  to  the  small  fraction  of  humanity  con- 
sidered to  be  below  the  normal,  or  to  the  supernormal 
man,    the    higher    classes,    including    the    supermen    of 

313 


314  SOCIOLOGY 

Nietzsche  and  George  Bernard  Shaw,  the  men  of  talent 
and  genius. 

Social  Superiority. — The  notion  of  social  superiority 
readily  assumes  a  threefold  aspect,  namely,  superiority  of 
race,  or  of  class,  or  of  individuals,  (i)  There  may  be  a 
classification  of  races,  nations,  or  civilizations,  indicating 
some  as  superior,  enlightened,  or  dominant,  by  compari- 
son with  those  of  relatively  smaller  attainment;  (2)  or  a 
large  social  group  may  be  considered  as  differentiated 
into  specialized  groups,  among  which  may  be  recognized 
a  dominant  group  or  superior  groups — the  superior 
classes  or  castes,  such  as  the  warriors,  the  nobility,  the 
priesthood,  the  intellectuals,  or  the  capitalists;  (3)  or 
stress  may  be  placed  on  superior  individuals,  persons  of 
talent,  genius,  and  of  dominating  personality. 

I.  Race  Superiority. — If  the  whole  of  the  world's 
population  be  taken  into  consideration  there  may  be  a  clas- 
sification involving  comparisons  between  grades  of  civili- 
zation, like  that  of  the  West  and  the  East,  or  broad  racial 
distinctions  like  that  between  the  white  and  other  racial 
stocks,  or  there  may  be  comparisons  of  national  groups 
distinguishing  the  leading  or  dominant  nations  from 
those  apparently  of  small  importance.  In  early  civiliza- 
tion especially,  but  also  in  all  ages,  capacity  in  war  was 
made  basal  for  claims  of  superiority,  like  that  of  the 
Suevi,  who,  in  Caesar's  account  of  the  Germans,  delib- 
erately kept  desolate  the  lands  adjoining  their  own  as 
a  proof  of  their  superiority  over  other  tribes.  On  the 
other  hand,  Pericles  in  his  Funeral  Oration,  addressing 
the  citizens  of  Athens,  belittled  the  militarism  of  Sparta 
as  a  basis  of  supremacy  and  stressed  by  contrast  the  cul- 
ture and  intellectual  greatness  of  the  Athenians:  just 
as,  in  further  illustration,  ancient  China  under  the  em- 


SOCIAL  GRADATIONS  AND  GENIUS  315 

pire  slighted  its  military  class  in  favor  of  the  learned 
body  of  mandarins,  expert  in  Chinese  classics.  Suprem- 
acy, again,  may  take  an  economic  aspect,  as  when  a  na- 
tion boasts  of  its  leadership  in  commerce  or  industries, 
or  in  inventive  capacity,  or  in  per  capita  wealth;  or  it 
may  take  a  political  aspect  in  a  nation's  pride  in  its  army 
or  its  sea  power,  or  in  the  efficiency  of  its  governmental 
machinery,  or  in  a  superior  type  of  democracy;  or  it 
may  take  even  a  religious  fonn,  like  the  Hebraic  claim- 
to  be*a  people  especially  chosen  of  God  for  some  definite 
purpose.  In  history  we  read  of  contrasts  between  war- 
like aggressive  nations  and  peace-loving  passive  peoples 
like  the  Slovacs  among  the  Slavs ;  or  Christendom  is 
compared  with  the  heathen*  or  the  Mohammedan  world, 
or  Occidental  with  Oriental  civilization,  or  the  Scandi- 
navian blond  with  the  Mediterranean  brunette  or  urban- 
loving  dolichocephalic  stock  is  contrasted  with  rural 
brachycephalic  races.  Unquestionably  there  are  such 
differences,  some  types  are  superior,  others  are  inferior, 
but  there  is  as  yet  no  consensus  of  opinion  as  to  whether 
these  differences  are  inherent  through  heredity,  or,  as 
is  more  likely,  are  for  the  most  part  the  results  of  long 
continuing  environment  of  varying  quality. 

II.  Class  Superiority. — Even  in  primitive  hordes 
there  apparently  developed  an  appreciation  of  difference 
between  the  masses  and  the  superior  few.  Varying  with 
social  conditions  of  peace  or  war,  or  the  intensity  of 
superstitious  beliefs,  there  arose  a  respect  for  older  men, 
the  elders  or  scnatus,  who,  in  a  comparatively  static  sit- 
uation, by  virtue  of  age  had  acquired  a  larger  experience, 
the  benefits  of  which  they  retained  in  memory  as  guides 
for  future  decisions.  These  consequently  were  wiser 
than  younger  men,  men  of  small  experience,  who,  in  de- 


3i6  SOCIOLOGY 

fault  of  written  traditions,  had  to  rely  on  the  wisdom  of 
the  "ancients"  as  their  source  of  general  information. 
In  these  earlier  civilizations  elders  regularly  were  treated 
with  deference  by  younger  men,  as  illustrated,  for  exam- 
ple, by  the  respect  paid  by  the  Greek  chieftains  besieg- 
ing Troy  to  old  Nestor,  who  had  already  outlived  two 
generations  of  his  tribe,  and  was  then  the  ruler  over 
the  third  (Iliad,  Book  I).  These  elders  were  the  war 
leaders,  the  wise  men  and  the  seers  of  their  time;  they 
were  expert  in  a  knowledge  of  traditions  and  customs, 
and  from  their  knowledge  of  the  past  and  the  present, 
might  to  some  degree  see  into  the  future  and  give  wise 
counsel.  If  their  experiences  became  specialized  in  par- 
ticular fields  of  activity,  so  that  they  became  leaders  in 
these,  then  skill  added  to  their  prestige  as  leaders  in  war, 
or  in  the  art  of  healing,  or  in  their  knowledge  of  the  su- 
pernatural, and  the  best  methods  of  appeasing  angry 
deities.  The  lives  of  persons  so  important  as  these 
were  socially  valuable  and  their  services  were  worth  more 
in  their  specialties  than  in  the  ordinary  vocations  of  so- 
ciety, so  that  they  were  freed  from  economic  toil  and 
larger  portions  and  the  better  grades  of  foods  became 
theirs  by  general  consent,  and  this  generosity  became 
sanctioned  by  custom  into  rights.  When  communal 
property  developed,  these  leaders  held  it  in  trust  for  the 
community  managing  and  administering  it  for  the  com- 
mon good,  reserving,  as  before,  a  larger  proportionate 
share  for  themselves;  naturally  when  private  rights  in 
property  became  prominent,  the  larger  share,  or  even 
the  whole  of  the  communal  property  came  to  be  con- 
sidered as  the  personal  possession  of  the  elders,  and 
when  autocracy  developed,  as  the  especial  property  of 
the  chief  noble  or  ruler  of  the  group. 


SOCIAL  GRADATIONS  AND  GENIUS  317 

Hereditary  Classes. — Under  the  earlier  system,  any 
person  who  survived  the  intense  struggle  for  existence 
in  those  days,  became  an  elder  and  might  aspire  through 
skill  to  become  a  leader  in  war  or  in  the  priestly  craft. 
But,  in  process  of  time,  close  corporations  arose  in  the 
,form  of  professional  or  trade  guilds  which  regulated 
admissions  to  their  ranks  by  requirements  of  submission 
to  the  authority  of  the  inner  leadership,  accompanied  by 
gifts  and  pledges  of  service.  Still  later,  with  the  rise 
of  definite  kinship  ties,  rights  of  membership  tended  to 
pass  as  a  family  inheritance,  so  that  persons*  were  born 
royal  or  noble,  or  into  professional  classes.  Custom,  law, 
and  religion  in  process  of  time  sanctioned  and  hallowed 
these  distinctions,  which  were  strengthened  by  the  rise 
of  the  inheritance  of  private  property,  thus  guaranty- 
ing, as  it  were,  an  economic  basis  of  wealth  to  the  su- 
perior classes.  But  when  the  possessors  of  privilege 
were  able  to  determine  who  their  successors  should  be, 
by  means  of  their  povv^er  to  determine  conditions  of  ad- 
mission or  by  insistence  on  hereditary  right,  the  older 
theory  of  leadership  slowly  passed  into  oblivion,  since 
control  no  longer  depended  on  age,  skill,  or  intellectual 
acumen,  but  on  birth  and  favoritism. 

In  the  case  of  a  superior  man,  his  greatness  is  easily 
obvious  because  in  attainment  he  stands  head  and  shoul- 
ders above  his  fellows.  A  superior  class,  likewise,  jus- 
tifies its  existence  by  the  achievements  it  makes  and 
stresses  its  social  obligation  as  the  chief  ground  for  its 
privileges  (noblesse  oblige).  Yet  although  the  class  it- 
self may  be  superior  to  other  classes  of  the  same  group, 
many  of  the  individual  members  of  it  may,  to  a  large 
extent,  compare  unfavorably  with  the  better  members 
of  these  other  classes.     Class  superiority,  as  a  rule,  is 


3i8  SOCIOLOGY 

sanctioned  by  ancient  custom  and  traditional  beliefs,  it 
is  streng-thened  by  ceremony  and  the  prestige  of  rank, 
it  even  may  be  hallowed  by  religion  and  venerated  as  a 
class  placed  in  power  by  divine  authority.  But  the  pres- 
tige of  the  class  as  a  whole  permits  of  a  membership 
partly  useful  and  partly,  perhaps  largely,  parasitic  in 
type.  Like  the  image  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  dream,  the 
head  was  of  fine  gold,  but  the  rest  of  the  body  grew  pro- 
gressively inferior  in  composition  and  ended  in  feet  partly 
iron  and  partly  clay.^  One  serious  social  consequence 
from  the  presence  of  these  inferior  individuals  lies  in 
the  fact  that  these  may  so  dominate  in  numbers  as  to 
handicap  seriously  the  social  group  in  its  competitions 
with  other  groups,  since  leadership  would  often  be  in 
the  hands  of  the  incompetent.  In  consequence,  in  times 
of  great  crises,  a  theoretically  superior  class  or  classes 
may  fall  tmder  the  social  ban,  as  in  the  French  and 
Bolshevist  Revolutions,  or  if  they  remain  in  power,  may 
bring  destruction  to  their  nation  through  their  incom- 
petent leadership.  It  is  an  excellent  illustration  of  the 
social  principle,  that  the  relatively  good  of  a  static  age 
may  become  evil  in  a  dynamic  movement.  The  demand 
for  leadership  is  natural  and  inevitable.  Primitive  civi- 
lization met  this  demand  by  furnishing  an  equality  of 
opportunity  and  honoring  those  who  showed  capacity  in 
safeguarding  and  strengthening  the  group.  The  human 
egoistic  impulses  reach  out  for  a  monopolization  of 
privileges  and  seek  to  perpetuate  these  through  law  and 
custom,  emphasizing  hereditary  rights.  Social  systems 
thereby  become  crystallized,  ossified,  and  resistant  to  mod- 
ification, so  that  they  pass  automatically  In  process  of 
time  into  the  limbo  of  degeneration  and  atrophy. 

'Daniel  II.,  31-33- 


SOCIAL  GRADATIONS  AND  GENIUS  319 

Class  Distinctions. — Illustrations  of  class  distinc- 
tions are  of  course  numerous.  As  far  back  as  history 
goes  there  existed  a  warrior  class,  or  warrior  tribes  and 
nations,  like  the  Ashantees  of  South  Africa,  the  ]\Iaori  of 
New  Zealand,  the  Aztecs  of  Mexico  in  the  time  of  Cortes, 
the  military  aristocracy  of  Sparta  or  the  Rajput  caste 
of  India,  the  Samurai  of  Japan,  or  the  Knights  of  the 
Middle  Ages.  A  warrior  class,  holding  lands,  readily 
becomes  a  nobility  class,  devoted,  as  a  rule,  to  war  and 
government.  Intellectual  preeminence  also  has  regularly 
been  recognized  by  special  privileges  like  those  bestowed 
on  the  priesthood  or  on  the  philosopher  or  the  profes- 
sional classes  generally.  Capitalistic  wealth,  developed 
through  commerce  and  manufactures,  also  becomes  the 
basis  of  class  distinction,  like  the  eqiiitcs  of  the  later  Ro- 
man Republic,  and,  as  the  "third  estate,"  becomes  the 
stratum  of  population  from  which  the  most  capable  or 
the  wealthiest  are  promoted  into  the  ranks  of  the  nobility 
and  the  intellectual  professions,  although  promotion  into 
the  higher  classes  may  be  possible  at  times  even  from 
slavery,  as  in  Imperial  Rome  or  modern  Turkey,  or  from 
the  peasantry,  as  in  China  through  its  ancient  system  of 
examinations. 

Class  distinctions  frequently  arise  as  the  result  of  the 
struggle  of  races  competing  for  survival.  Ancient  wars 
resulted  in  conquest  and  subjugation,  so  that  the  con- 
querors settled  down  on  the  territories  of  the  conquered 
and  exploited  them  after  a  partial  extermination.  In 
such  cases  class  superiority  is  racial  and  there  may  be 
definite  attempts  to  preserve  racial  purity  by  religious 
prohibitions  against  intermarriage  or  entrance  into  higher 
vocations.  Specialized  vocational  classes  thus  protected 
against  amalgamation  or  rivalry,  and  sanctioned  by  re- 


320  SOCIOLOGY 

ligion  readily  develop  into  castes,  like  the  caste  system 
of  India, ^  which  represents  the  extreme  of  specialization 
and  rigidity.  When  conquests  are  compounded,  social 
stratification  becomes  very  complex  since  several  grades 
of  inferiority  may  thus  readily  develop,  as  illustrated,  for 
example,  in  the  social  distinctions  that  developed  in  the 
composite  populations  of  former  Austria-Hungary  and 
in  the  Balkan  States.  In  racial  conflicts  a  race  may  in 
a  sense  become  outlawed  on  the  theory  that  they  are  so- 
cially dangerous,  and  attempts  may  be  made  to  exter- 
minate them,  as  illustrated  by  the  policy  of  the  Israelites 
under  Joshua  towards  the  urbanized  Canaaniites,^  or 
their  decision  to  blot  out  the  tribe  of  Benjamin  because 
of  its  sins,*  or  the  many  attempts  of  modern  Turkey 
to  massacre  the  Armenians,  on  the  ground  that  they  de- 
stroy the  unity  of  the  Empire,  because  of  their  insistence 
on  the  maintenance  of  their  own  religion  and  nationality. 
Oppressed  Classes. — In  the  traditions  of  ancient 
history,  as  shown  by  the  great  states  of  former  days  such 
as  Egypt,  there  seem  to  have  regularly  existed  grada- 
tions of  social  classes.  This  was  true  also  in  democratic 
Athens  and  still  more  so  in  oligarchic  Sparta.  Plato's 
Republic  sought  to  find  a  reasonable  and  just  basis  in 
heredity  for  a  classification  of  population  on  the  theory 
that  the  best  and  wisest  should  rule,  since,  he  argued,  so- 
ciety will  never  be  well  governed  until  "rulers  become 
philosophers  or  philosophers,  rulers."  Aristotle's  Poli- 
tics also  had  a  thorough  discussion  of  the  relation  of 
classes  in  a  state  and  lays  great  stress  on  the  importance 
of  a  middle  class  as  a  sort  of  buffer  between  the  rich  and 

'  Note,  Ketkar's  History  of  Caste  in  India. 

'Deut.  XX. 

*  Judges  XX-XXI. 


SOCIAL  GRADATIONS  AND  GENIUS  321 

the  poor.  Both  of  these  Greek  writers  had  a  lordly  con- 
tempt for  aliens,  mechanics,  and  artisans  and  held  that 
most  men  were  by  nature  unfitted  for  freedom,  since  they 
lacked  wisdom  and  virtue. 

In  all  social  history,  both  ancient  and  modern,  sharp 
contrasts  in  rights  are  to  be  found  between  the  privileged 
and  the  oppressed  classes,  between  the  noble  and  the 
peasant,  and  the  master  and  the  slave.  On  the  masses  was 
placed  by  far  the  larger  share  of  misery  and  suffering, 
along  with  savage  and  vindictive  punishments  for  wrong 
doing.  Little  value  was  placed  on  human  life  and  the 
lives  of  the  masses  were  of  no  more  value  than  those 
of  other  animals  useful  to  their  masters.  They  were 
considered  mere  pawns  in  the  game,  to  be  played  for  the 
advantage  of  king,  warrior,  or  priest.  As  inferiors  they 
could  claim  no  rights  as  against  their  betters  nor  did  the 
"ten  commandments"  hold  in  the  moral  relations  exist- 
ing between  the  two  classes.  On  the  one  side  was  merci- 
less exploitation,  on  the  other  a  hatred  of  the  oppressor 
and  a  glorification  of  the  Robin  Hoods  and  Dick  Turpins 
who  "rob  the  rich  to  feed  the  poor."  Sabotage  is  a  mod- 
ern illustration  of  this  dualism  in  morals,  just  as  for- 
merly buccaneering  or  smuggling  was  blameworthy  or 
praiseworthy  according  to  the  point  of  view. 

The  enslavement  of  the  masses  is  favored  most  in 
static  groupings  of  semi-tropical  civilizations  based  on 
old-fashioned  methods  of  agriculture.  In  such  situa- 
tions the  production  of  foods  from  a  given  area  is  prac- 
tically fixed,  so  that  there  is  a  Malthusian  struggle  for 
food  on  the  part  of  a  multiplying  population,  as  illus- 
trated in  the  biblical  tradition  of  Joseph,^  who  in  time 
of  famine  took  advantage  of  the  necessity  of  the  Eg}'p- 

*  Genesis  XLVII. 


322  SOCIOLOGY 

tians  and  sold  them  food  in  return  for  their  lands  and 
liberty.  When  the  struggle  is  not  so  keen,  or  newer 
lands  are  available  for  expansion,  or  when  changing 
conditions  bring  about  a  changing  civilization,  empha- 
sizing perhaps  handicrafts,  manufactures,  and  commerce, 
then  there  arises  a  middle  class  characterized  by  greater 
intelligence  and  skill.  The  presence  of  a  middle  class  is 
a  great  incentive  to  enslaved  masses,  since  they  gain  the 
hope  that  through  energy  the  slave  may  become  a  serf, 
the  serf  a  freeman  and  he,  or  his  descendants,  may  as- 
pire to  wealth  and  an  honored  place  in  the  community. 
Thus,  classes  arise,  as  against  castes,  since  men  may  rise 
or  fall  in  status,  whereas  in  castes  men  may  fall  but  never 
rise  from  a  lower  to  a  higher  caste. 

Dreams  of  Equality. — In  social  literature  speculation 
in  regard  to  the  masses  has  its  idealistic,  religious  side. 
From  time  to  time  there  have  arisen  through  philoso- 
phers, prophets,  and  poets  idealistic  teachings,  based  often 
on  the  tradition  of  the  primitive  golden  age,  a  natural 
society  founded  on  justice  and  fraternity,  asserting  that 
all  men  should  be  free,  equal,  and  kindly  in  their  rela- 
tions and  that  the  strong  should  help,  rather  than  exploit, 
the  weak.  At  times  this  teaching  would  arouse  a  reaction 
against  the  members  of  the  exploiting  class  and  there 
would  come  stern  denunciation  of  those  "who  grind  the 
faces  of  the  poor."  So  far  did  this  emphasis  go  at  times 
that  it  came  to  be  assumed  that  the  rich  were  presumably 
wicked  and  that  the  poor  were  inherently  good,  so  that 
at  death  Dives  automatically  goes  to  a  place  of  torment 
and  the  beggar  to  Abraham's  bosom.^  Another  point  of 
view  was  reached  when  idealists  dreamed  of  a  coming 

*Luke  XVI,  19-31.  ~~ 


SOCIAL  GRADATIONS  AND  GENIUS  323 

Utopia  where  injustice  and  misery  are  unknown  and  all 
men  again  become  brothers  living  in  social  concord,  for 

When  Adam  delved  and  Eve  span, 

Who  was  then  the  gentleman  ? 

There  was,  however,  another  aspect  of  this  problem 
of  classes  that  later  came  to  be  voiced  by  Karl  Marx  as 
the  "class  struggle"  theory.  Castes  and  classes  may 
represent  economic  as  well  as  racial  differences.  In  Rome 
as  history  narrates,  there  were  century-long  struggles 
between  the  patrician  and  the  plebeian,  the  equitcs  being 
the  middle  or  buffer  class.  The  success  of  the  plebeians 
stimulated  the  lowest  classes  to  react  against  the  wretch- 
edness and  misery  of  life,  so  that  they  also  revolted 
against  their  masters.  There  were  revolts  of  slaves, 
gladiators,  peasants — the  heavily  exploited  classes  who 
had  traditions  of  former  freedom.^  Revolts  of  this  sort 
are  signs  of  betterment,  both  economic  and  intellectual, 
for  the  abject  never  rebel.  Men  must  feel  their  injuries 
and  have  manly  reactions  against  tyranny  before  they 
will  risk  all  in  battle.  As  Moses  said  symbolically  in  one 
of  his  songs,  "J^^huran  waxed  fat,  and  kicked,"  and  as 
Plato  represents  in  his  picture  of  democracy,  even  the 
donkeys  on  the  street  feel  the  stimulus  of  the  air  of  free- 
dom and  kick  up  their  heels  at  their  masters.  Proletarian 
revolts,  therefore,  are  signs  of  coming  progress  and  as 
they  near  attainment  we  dignify  them  with  the  title  of 
revolutions. 

Rise  of  the  Masses. — After  the  "dark  ages"  fol- 
lowing the  decadence  of  Rome  there  came  a  definitely 
forward  movement  on  the  part  of  the  masses,  as  new 
economic  situations  and  the  enlightenment  of  the  print- 

'  See  C.  Osborne  Ward's  The  Ancient  Lcz^'Iy   (A  History  of  the 
Proletariat). 


334  SOCIOLOGY 

ing  press  came  to  the  front.  Peasant  revolts  and  arti- 
san uprisings  broke  out  throughout  western  Europe; 
middle  class  rebellions  against  the  domination  of  noble 
and  priest  soon  followed;  and  then  came  the  revolutiona 
of  the  Netherlands,  of  England  in  the  Seventeenth  Cen- 
tury, of  France  and  the  Americas  in  the  Eighteenth  and 
Nineteenth  Centuries.  The  Twentieth  Century,  even  yet 
young,  has  already  given  us  the  revolutions  of  China, 
Russia,  and  the  Central  Powers,  and  it  is  fairly  safe  to 
say  that  the  world  will  be  rather  completely  revolution- 
ized by  the  end  of  the  century. 

It  should  not  be  assumed  however  that  class  and  racial 
struggles  will  thereby  end.  Civilization  is  still  too  im- 
mature for  such  concord  which  is  yet  far  in  the  future. 
New  aspects  of  struggle  will  arise,  fundamentally  eco- 
nomic and  racial  as  always  and  these  find  their  solution 
only  in  the  slow  passing  of  years  along  with  the  growth 
of  idealism  and  intelligence.  Ideals  of  this  sort,  to  be 
sure,  are  here  now  and  have  been  from  the  beginning, 
but  for  real  effectiveness  they  must  be  held  by  the  many, 
not  monopolized  by  the  few.  In  the  Eighteenth  Cen- 
tury, for  example,  the  popularization  of  modern  ideal- 
ism may  be  said  to  have  begun.  Humanitarianism  with 
its  stress  on  liberty  and  equality  and  its  demand  for 
education  became  prominent  and  agitation  developed 
against  slavery  and  the  ill-treatment  of  the  insane,  the 
poor,  and  the  criminal.  In  religion  came  such  move- 
ments as  Congregationalism,  Methodism,  foreign  mis^- 
sionary  enterprises,  all  emphasizing  the  worth  of  the  in- 
dividual soul.  Individualism  in  politics  came  to  the  front 
through  social  contract  theories  and  Adam  Smith  set 
forth  an  economic  policy  of  individualism  and  laisses- 
faire.     Women  also  began  to  assert  their  equality  with 


SOCIAL  GRADATIONS  AND  GENIUS  325 

men  and  to  demand  their  rights  and  in  educational  the- 
ories, like  that  of  Rousseau,  it  was  assumed  that  even 
children  had  the  right  to  "life,  liberty,  and  the  pur- 
suit of  happiness."  These  sweeping  assertions  of  broad 
humanitarianism  were  followed  in  the  Nineteenth  Cen- 
tury by  numerous  movements  of  all  sorts,  aiming  to  ac- 
complish reforms  of  particular  social  evils  or  making 
Utopian  suggestions  of  social  reorganization,  or  more 
thoughtfully  making  intelligent  studies  in  respect  to  class 
relationships,  the  elimination  of  social  discord,  and  the 
possibility  of  working  towards  social  philosophies  and 
schemes  for  social  betterment  and  reorganization. 

III.  Individual  Superiority. — It  of  course  should  not 
be  assumed  that  persons  of  talent  and  genius  exist  only  in 
highly  developed  societies.  In  the  rudest  civilizations 
there  are  genius  mutations,  far  superior  to  their  fellows, 
and  revered  by  them  as  akin  to  the  gods.  But  great 
though  these  are  in  their  rude  social  groups,  they  after 
all  seem  petty  by  comparison  with  the  great  men  of 
higher  civilizations  whose  dormant  powers  are  called 
out  by  a  stimulating  environment  and  who  find  before 
them  opportunities  for  achievements  utterly  impossible 
to  those  in  savage  groups.  Genius  in  and  of  itself  is  not 
sufficient,  it  must  have  opportunity  for  development,  and 
a  suitable  field  for  its  activities.  Genius,  therefore,  in 
lower  civilizations  remains  largely  potential,  but  when  op- 
portunities multiply  and  achievements  become  possible, 
potential  genius  becomes  focalized  into  powerful  person- 
alities gifted  with  keen  insight  and  the  "will  to  power." 
An  apparent  dearth  of  genius  implies  low  social  prog- 
ress or  decadence,  but  genius  multiplied  means  arith- 
metical progress,  provided  that  the  achievement  of  genius 
is  not  perverted  into  anti-social  directions.     For,  in  the 


326  SOCIOLOGY 

case  of  individuals,  the  person  of  talent  or  genius  is  not 
necessarily  socially  helpful.  By  contrast  he  may  be  so- 
cially detrimental  and  pass  into  history  as  the  Tyrant,  or 
be  apotheosized  by  later  generations  into  an  evil  deity, 
or  represented  as  a  self-seeking  deity  like  the  Satan  of 
Milton's  Paradise  Lost.  The  rarity  of  genius  in  olden 
times  made  it  seem  like  a  gift  from  the  gods,  or  as 
incarnate  in  a  being  born  from  them,  or  inspired  by 
them  either  through  divine  indwelling  or  direct  in- 
struction. When  philosophers  cast  doubt  on  the  possi- 
bility of  human  birth  except  from  human  parents,  dis* 
cussion  then  centered  about  the  question  as  to  whether 
genius  was  inborn,  or  acquired  through  training,  or  was 
the  resultant  of  both,  as  Cicero  argued,  in  the  Poet 
Archias  (paragraph  15).  Plato  in  his  myth  of  the  metals 
raised  the  other  mooted  question,  as  to  whether  genius 
might  arise  from  all  grades  of  the  population  alike,  or 
should  be  expected  chiefly,  if  not  entirely,  from  the  su- 
perior classes.  These  conclusions  represented  on  the 
whole  the  best  decisions  of  thinkers  down  to  the  Nine- 
teenth Century,  when  the  rise  of  biolog>'  opened  again 
the  entire  question  of  genius. 

Ancient  Beliefs  Respecting  Genius. — The  historical 
and  easy  method  of  explaining  the  appearance  of  great 
men  is  to  assert,  as  the  ancients  did,  that  they  were  sons 
of  the  gods,  having  a  parentage  both  human  and  divine. 
In  Greek  tradition,  for  example,  Hercules  was  the  son 
of  Zeus,  and  Achilles  had  Thetis  as  a  goddess  mother. 
The  Iliad  also  ^ives  many  illustrations  of  how  men  of 
human  parentage  might  be  so  aided  and  counseled  by  a 
friendly  god  as  to  achieve  results  otherwise  unattain- 
able. The  Roman  tradition  of  King  Numa  who  received 
wise  instruction  from  the  goddess  Egeria,  and  the  Israel- 


SOCIAL  GRADATIONS  AND  GENIUS  327 

itish  belief  in  the  inspiration  of  their  divinely  called 
kings  and  prophets  likewise  illustrate  this  form  of  ex- 
planation of  greatness.  Akin  to  this  is  the  belief  in  the 
coming  of  a  Messiah  who  will  restore  greatness  to  a  na- 
tion, or  such  widespread  beliefs  as  that  some  great  na- 
tional hero,  like  King  Arthur,  or  Frederick  Barbarossa, 
will  some  day  return  to  his  people  and  lead  it  again  to 
victory  and  supremacy.  In  Confucius'  Superior  Man  by 
contrast  there  is  not  so  much  an  explanation  of  great- 
ness, as  a  catalogue  of  the  qualities  that  unitedly  make  up 
a  superior  man,  with  instructions  for  the  cultivation  of 
these  virtues  by  those  eager  for  wisdom.  A  variation  of 
this  in  classic  times  is  the  attempt  to  depict  an  ideal  ruler 
or  perfect  statesman,  as  in  Xenophon's  Cyrus  or  Cice- 
ro's praise  of  Cato  Major  (in  the  De  Rcpuhlica) ,  or  the 
Agricola  of  Tacitus,  or  the  ancient  notion  of  the  perfect 
wife,  as  in  Xenophon's  Economics,  or  in  the  Book  of 
Proverbs  (Chap.  XXXI).  Plato  in  the  Republic  and  to 
some  extent  in  the  Laws,  goes  farther  than  this  in  as- 
suming an  inherent  greatness  in  a  small  fraction  of  man- 
kind, which  can  best  be  developed  by  a  carefully  thought 
out  system  of  education,  supplemented  by  a  social  re- 
organization, resulting,  by  a  process  of  progressive  elimi- 
nation, in  the  selection  of  a  warrior  class,  and  of  a  phi- 
losopher class,  or  even  at  rare  intervals  in  the  choice  of 
one  man  who  excels  the  rest  as  the  statesman  or  the  phi- 
losopher-king. As  Aristotle  also  argued — If  one  citizen 
in  an  aristocracy  because  of  his  preeminence  in  virtue 
be  better  than  the  other  members  of  the  government  he 
should  rule  over  them,  since  he  is  as  a  God  among  men 
{Politics  III,  13). 

The    Genius   Tyrant. — Just   as   the   ancients   strove 
to  depict  the  genius  statesman  as  the  wise  leader  of  his 


328  SOCIOLOGY 

people,  so  in  the  same  manner  they  painted  the  character 
of  the  genius  tyrant  as  the  one  who  ruled  selfishly  and  so 
despotically  as  to  drive  his  people  to  abject  submission  or 
revolt.  The  tv^^o  most  famous  pictures  of  the  Tyrant  ®  are 
given  by  Plato  in  the  Republic^  and  by  Aristotle  in  the 
Politics}^  These  sketches,  especially  Aristotle's,  fur- 
nished the  basis  for  the  famous  Prince  -^^  of  Machiavelli, 
in  chapters  XV-XIX  of  which  occurs  his  discussion  of 
the  proper  policy  a  Tyrant  should  follow. 

Mediaeval  discussions  of  greatness  followed  in  the 
main  ancient  models  and,  as  already  indicated,  the  newer 
trend  develops  with  the  rise  of  Darwinian  and  evolution- 
ary teachings,  although  as  a  sort  of  echo  from  the  past 
comes  the  emphasis  placed  by  Thomas  Carlyle  on  Heroes 
and  Hero  Worship,  and  his  apotheosis  of  the  Prussian 
Frederick  the  Great  as  a  sort  of  glorified  Machiavellian 
Prince. 

Genius  under  Darwinism. — The  rise  of  Darwinism 
marked  an  epoch  in  theories  of  genius.  The  popular 
fancy  was  attracted  by  the  idea  of  struggle  for  suprem- 
acy, survival  of  the  fit,  and  elimination  of  the  unfit.  There 
was  a  sort  of  fascination  in  the  Spencerian  hypothesis 
of  a  gradual  glacier-like  movement  of  the  entire  cosmos, 
evolving  during  countless  millions  of  years  starry  sys- 
tems, suns,  moons,  planets,  and  on  the  earth  myriad 
forms  of  life,  both  vegetal  and  animal,  culminating  ap- 
parently in  the  evolution  of  the  human  mind.    It  is  easy 

'  A  Jewish  version  of  the  Tyrant  may  be  found  in  the  book  of 
Samuel  (I  Samuel  VIII,  11-18)  and  in  the  Agricola  of  Tacitus 
a  dark  picture  of  the  Roman  emperor  Tiberius  as  a  Tyrant  is  given. 

*  Book  VIII,  paragraphs  566-end. 

*°  Book  V,  paragraphs   10  and   11. 

"  For  a  delightful  mojdernization  of  the  Tyrant  of  Aristotle  and 
the  Prince  of  Machiavelli  see  Henry  Champernowne,  The  Boss, 
an  essay  upon  the  art  of  governing  American  cities.     1894. 


SOCIAL  GRADATIONS  AND  GENIUS  329 

to  see  why  such  teachings  revived  the  study  of  genius. 
On  the  face  of  it,  talent  and  genius  represent  the  win- 
ning factor  in  the  struggle  for  survival.  Brute  force 
must  yield  to  mind  force,  the  dullard  is  unfit  in  the  strug- 
gle for  survival,  and  weaklings,  pathetic  though  they 
may  be  in  their  helplessness,  are  doomed  to  elimination, 
in  order  that  not  the  meek,  but  the  brainy  may  inherit 
the  earth.  As  an  ancient  philosopher  once  said,  "On 
earth  there  is  nothing  great  but  man;  in  man,  there  is 
nothing  great  but  mind."^" 

Then,  too,  the  newer  teaching  allowed  men  to  discard 
the  obsolescent  teaching  of  genius  as  divinely  bom, 
chosen,  or  inspired,  and  to  interpolate  instead  the  idea  of 
Nature — the  metaphysical  stage  of  Comte.  Nature  pro- 
duces genius  in  society  as  an  aid  to  survival,  so  that  every 
genius  is  a  natural  agency  for  the  furtherance  of  human 
progress.  The  genius  is  intuitive  and  sees  clearly  what 
the  average  man  comprehends  dimly,  if  at  all.  Geniuses 
are  the  personification  of  nature's  unseen  forces,  the  em- 
bodied spirit  of  their  times,  working  out  lines  of  evolu- 
tion for  humanity  and  as  such  they  are  nature's  proph- 
ets and  messiahs,  to  whom  ordinary  men  should  yield 
willing  obedience,  since  thereby  they  also  will  survive 
through  the  wise  leadership  of  their  natural  leaders. 

The  Nietzschean  Superman. — This  sort  of  teaching 
found  its  best  exponent  in  the  German  philosopher 
Nietzsche  ^^  who  stressed  the  importance  of  the  super- 
man, the  man  of  will,  energy,  and  intense  personality, 
whom  Nature  inspires  to  will  the  accomplishment  of  his 
heart's  desires,  irrespective  of  the  conventional  morals 
of  mediocre  men,  trampling  into  the  dust,  if  necessary, 

"  Respecting  this  quotation  see  Pure  Sociology  by  Ward,  p.  496. 
"  See  also  the  stress  on  individualism  in  Ibsen  and  George  Ber- 
nard   Shaw. 


330  SOCIOLOGY 

tlie  weaklings  among  men,  who  merely  handicap  the 
strong  by  pleading  for  help  and  compassion.  As  the  Aus- 
trian Gumplowicz  put  it,  in  applying  the  same  doctrine 
to  group  and  national  struggles  for  survival : 

In  group  struggles  individual  opinions  play  nO'  part, 
each  group  struggles  inexorably  to  satisfy  its  own  inter- 
ests, to  demonstrate  its  own  power.  Blind  natural  law 
controls  the  action  of  savage  hordes,  of  states,  and  of 
societies. 

And  again,  "States  oppose  one  another  like  savage 
hordes:  they  follow  the  blind  laws  of  nature;  no  ethical 
law  or  moral  obligation,  only  the  fear  of  the  stronger, 
holds  them  in  check ;  neither  right  nor  law,  treaty  nor 
league,  can  restrain  the  stronger  from  seeking  its  own 
interests  when  the  opportunity  is  offered." 

Professor  Sumner  also  in  his  What  Social  Classes  Owe 
to  Each  Other  emphasizes  the  same  point  from  the  stand- 
point of  Spencerian  laisse:;-fairc.  Government,  he  ar- 
gues, should  not  interfere  with  economic  competition, 
the  wretchedly  poor  and  the  poverty-stricken  are  not 
fitted  to  survive  in  nature's  competitive  system,  and  state 
charity  or  any  other  kind  interferes  with  nature's  proc- 
esses and  to  that  extent  retards  the  evolutionary  move- 
ment of  society.  Obviously  in  these  three  types  of  theory 
Nature  is  a  sort  of  aristocratic  but  abstracted  deity,  con- 
temptuous of  the  masses  and  bent  on  filling  up  his  heaven 
with  the  powerful  who-  survive  the  competitions  of  life 
and  climb  up  to  Valhalla  on  the  bodies  of  the  weak  and 
vanquished. 

Galtonian  Eugenics. — There  is,  however,  a  more 
scientific  method  of  approaching  the  study  of  genius,  and 
this  also  found  its  stimulus  in  the  Darwinian  era.  Ouete- 
let  had  shown  the  possibilities  of  attaining  social  prin- 


SOCIAL  GRADATIONS  AND  GENIUS  331 

ciples  through  the  use  of  statistics  and  Darwin  had  shown 
the  all  importance  of  scientific  observation  in  biology. 
Galton  combined  these  two  methods  and,  starting  out 
with  the  hypothesis  that  genius  is  hereditary,  sought  to 
show  that  there  is  in  humanity  a  genius  class  from  which, 
for  the  most  part,  should  be  expected  whatever  talent 
and  genius  society  produces.  The  implication,  of  course, 
is  that  if  the  membership  of  this  class  can  be  ascertained, 
then  social  effort  properly  should  be  expended  in  foster- 
ing these,  so  as  thereby  to  be  assured  of  a  bounteous  crop 
of  geniuses  as  a  guaranty  of  social  progress.  This  ar- 
gument logically  leads  on  to  the  science  of  Eugenics, 
launched  by  Galton  in  1904-5,  through  which  society  by 
statistical  investigations,  carried  on  among  all  classes, 
should  endeavor  to  ascertain  what  part  of  its  population 
may  be  considered  as  well  born  and,  therefore,  worthy 
of  reproducing  its  kind,  and  what  part  on  the  other  hand 
should  be  discouraged  from  propagation,  so  as  to  relieve 
society  from  an  inert  or  degenerating  mass  of  population. 
The  emphasis  in  the  Galtonian  argument  is  placed  on 
heredity  as  the  fundamental  factor,  and  the  assump- 
tion that  inborn  genius  is  bound  to  manifest  itself,  though 
with  an  admission  that  environmental  factors  may  favor 
or  retard  hereditary  genius.  There  seems  also  to  be  an 
assumption  that  genius  is  inherently  a  male  character, 
since  women  are  consistently  slighted  in  his  discussions, 
though  presumably  he  would  assert  that  talented  women 
would  naturally  spring  from  talented  families  and  would 
intermarry  within  their  own  class,  thus  doubly  assuring 
the  descent  of  genius  and  talent  from  eugenic  stock. 
Eugenics,  therefore,  from  a  Galtonian  standpoint  would 
seek  to  ascertain  statistically  and  otherwise  those  prin- 
ciples of  heredity  which,  if  socially  emphasized,  would 


332  SOCIOLOGY 

result  in  the  multiplication  of  a  positive,  progressive 
stock,  sound  in  mind  and  body,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  in 
the  diminution  of  a  negative,  degenerating  stock,  physi- 
cally and  mentally  weak.  It  seems  evident  that  eugenic 
studies,  as  long  as  they  base  themselves  on  Galtonian 
hypotheses,  would  tend  to  stress  at  the  one  end  a  com- 
paratively small  per  cent  of  talented  families  and  at  the 
other  end,  a  similarly  small  per  cent  of  degenerates 
doomed  by  nature  to  be  eliminated,  neglecting  to  a  quite 
large  extent  the  average  man,  the  masses,  who  presum- 
ably represent  the  material  to  be  influenced  or  molded 
by  men  of  talent  and  genius. 

Lombroso's  Abnormal  Genius. — In  Galton's  argu- 
ment runs  the  assumption  that  talent  and  genius  are  nor- 
mal products  of  nature,  but,  being  higher  in  quality  than 
the  average,  they  are  forerunners  of  the  forward  move- 
ment in  human  progress,  and,  in  a  sense,  blaze  the  way 
for  future  generations  as  indications  of  the  possibilities 
of  human  mental  development.  By  contrast,  in  Quete- 
let's  argument  in  respect  to  the  average  man  there  is  the 
static  implication  that  the  average  man  is  the  normal 
man  and  is  the  type  or  standard  of  what  nature  desires 
the  race  to  be.  From  this  standpoint,  those  who  are 
above  the  average  as  well  as  those  who  are  below,  are  to 
be  considered  as  abnormal.  Genius,  therefore,  is  abnor- 
mal, and  being  so,  may  as  readily  prove  to  be  a  curse  as 
a  blessing  to  society.  The  Italian  Lombroso  voices  this 
aspect  of  genius,  which,  accordmg  to  his  theory,  is  path- 
ological, and  associated  with  epilepsy  and  insanity.  Bril- 
liant, therefore,  though  the  genius  may  be,  he  after  all 
represents  equally  with  the  criminal  the  notion  of  de- 
generacy, physical  or  mental,  and  is  merely  an  illustra- 
tion of  social  decadence  from  a  healthy  norm  of  average 


SOCIAL  GRADATIONS  AND  GENIUS  333 

mediocrity.  Human  progress,  therefore,  if  made  at  all, 
is  accomplished,  not  by  decadent  and  unliealthy  genius 
but  by  the  infinitely  tedious  and  slow  process  of  raising 
the  masses  by  natural  evolutionary  methods  of  genetic 
selection.  These  conclusions  Lombroso  endeavored  to 
establish  by  observational  and  statistical  methods  but 
possibly  was  unduly  influenced  by  his  pessimistic  belief 
in  the  abnormality  of  genius,  and  hence  slighted  the  dis- 
tinction between  a&normal  and  ^zY/rrnormal  genius. 

The  Theory  of  Helvetius. — The  Galtonian  theory 
of  genius  is  in  marked  contrast  to  the  social  and  philo- 
sophic discussions  of  the  Eighteenth  Century.  These  in 
general  assumed  the  equality  of  man  and  argued  that  all 
men  by  nature  are  equal  and  that  what  differences  actu- 
ally exist  are  wholly  due  to  social  conditions  and  en- 
vironment. From  this  standpoint,  if  uniform  conditions 
and  a  social  environment  of  high  type  were  provided  for 
all  classes  of  normal  persons  alike,  society  would  in  due 
course  become  composed  of  citizens  approximately  equal 
one  to  the  other.  This,  it  will  be  noted,  is  not  a  theory 
of  genius,  but  a  theory  of  an  average  attainment  by  the 
average  man.  In  Helvetius,  the  great  exponent  of  equal- 
ity through  education,  there  is  an  extension  of  the  ar- 
gument to  the  effect  that  talent  lies  latent  in  humanity 
as  a  whole  and  hence  that  under  proper  conditions  it  is  as 
likely  to  come  to  light  from  one  class  as  from  another. 
In  other  words,  he  argued  that  genius  is  potential,  needs 
opportunity  for  development,  and  is  inherent  not  in  all 
persons  but  in  aU  classes,  so  that  when  right  conditions 
and  environment  are  secured,  talent  and  genius  will 
blossom  forth  indifferently  from  peasant  or  noble  stock 
alike. 

From  this  standpoint  there  is  a  vigorous  emphasis  on 


334  SOCIOLOGY 

the  importance  of  environment,  but  an  admission  that 
scattered  here  and  there  throughout  the  human  race  there 
exist  natures  that  potentially  are  superior  to  the  masses 
in  their  capacity  for  development,  and  the  argument  that 
this  potenial  genius  will  not  inevitably  be  actualized,  but 
must  be  kindled  by  a  stimulating  environment  and  by  op- 
portunity. 

Ward's  Discussion  of  Genius. — Now  this  theory  is 
different  from  that  advanced  by  Galton.  Galton  seems 
to  argue  that  genius  is  inherent  in  a  social  class,  possibly 
in  the  males  of  this  class,  and  that  it  inevitably  will  mani- 
fest itself,  irrespective  of  environment  or  opportunity. 
The  other  theory  argues  that  genius  is  in  the  race  not  in 
the  class,  in  both  sexes  alike,  and  needs  for  development 
the  stimulus  of  opportunity.  Lester  F.  Ward  in  his  Ap- 
plied Sociology,  using  as  the  basis  of  his  argument  Odin's 
statistical  study  of  the  great  literary  men  of  France,  takes 
up  the  cudgels  in  behalf  of  the  Helvetian  doctrine  and, 
after  carefully  considering  the  literature  and  weighing 
the  evidence  pro  and  con,  endorses  the  conclusions  of 
Odin  which  substantially  agree  with  Helvetius.  As  Ward 
puts  it,  most  of  the  potential  genius  of  mankind  remains 
undeveloped  under  present  conditions,  actual  genius 
under  a  proper  organization  of  society  might  readily 
be  multiplied  at  least  a  hundred  times,  and  if  women  also 
were  taken  into  account,  as  properly  they  should,  the 
manifest  genius  of  any  generation  might  be  multiplied 
by  two  hundred — to  say  nothing  of  the  raising  of  the  men- 
tal capacity  of  the  average  man  under  the  stimulus  of  a 
better  environment.  The  real  factors  in  environment 
that  stimulate  and  develop  potential  genius,  as  shown 
by  Odin  and  corroborated  by  Ward  are : 


SOCIAL  GRADATIONS  AND  GENIUS  335 

(i)  centers  of  population  containing  special  intellectual 
stimuli  and  facilities;  (2)  ample  material  means  insuring 
freedom  from  care,  economic  security,  leisure,  and  the 
wherewithal  to  supply  the  apparatus  of  research;  (3)  a 
social  position  such  as  is  capable  of  producing  a  sense  of 
self-respect,  dignity,  and  reserve  power  which  alone  can 
inspire  confidence  in  one's  worth  and  in  one's  right  to  enter 
the  lists  for  the  great  prizes  of  Hfe;  (4)  careful  and  pro- 
longed intellectual  training  during  youth,  whereby  all  the 
fields  of  achievement  become  familiar  and  a  choice  of  them 
possible  in  harmony  with  intellectual  proclivities  and 
tastes.^* 

Study  of  Genius  is  Becoming  Scientific. — In  conclu- 
sion of  this  argument  it  seems  obvious  that  theories  in 
respect  to  genius  are  no  longer  merely  speculative,  but, 
since  the  Hereditary  Genius  of  Galton,  there  have  come 
into  discussion  scientific  hypotheses  to  be  finally  estab- 
lished, when  established,  by  biological  investigations  in 
respect  to  heredity,  and  sociological  studies  of  environ- 
mental factors.  At  present,  in  the  light  of  recent  inves- 
tigations it  may  be  safely  assumed  (i)  that  there  are 
real  hereditary  distinctions  between  superior  and  in- 
ferior men,  (2)  that  these  distinctions  are  to  be  found 
alike  in  both  sexes,  (3)  that  the  genius  manifest  in  a 
social  group  is  merely  a  small  fraction  of  the  potential 
genius  and  talent  latent  in  that  group,  and  (4)  that  there 
are  certain  definite  well-ascertained  environmental  factors, 
that  if  stressed,  should  result  in  the  more  rapid  multipli- 
cation of  genius. 

If  in  a  given  civilization  these  environmental  factors 

^*  Applied  Sociology,  p.  224.  For  a  similar  study  based  on  the 
United  States  see  pamphlet  by  George  R.  Davies,  A  Statistical 
Study  in  the  Influence  of  Environment  (reprint  from  Quarterly 
Journal  of  the  University  of  North  Dakota,  April,  1914).  An 
abstract  of  this  pamphlet  may  be  found  in  Davies'  Social  Environ- 
ment, Chapter  IV  and  appendix. 


336  SOCIOLOGY 

are  practically  monopolized  by  the  few — a  nobility,  a 
learned  caste,  or  a  wealthy  class — then  actualized  genius 
will  be  found  among  these  only,  and  the  masses  will 
seem  inert  and  stupid  by  comparison.  If,  again,  they 
are  monopolized  by  one  nation,  as  against  other  nations, 
that  nation  will  seem  superior  and  become  dominant,  the 
others  by  contrast  seeming  to  be  inferior  and  fitted  only 
for  slavery  or  servitude.  On  the  other  hand,  in  a  real 
or  social  democracy  these  civilizing  environmental  fac- 
tors would  be  socialized,  in  the  sense  that  they  would 
cease  to  be  the  monopoly  of  the  few,  but  would  become 
the  privilege  of  all.  No  one  believes  or  expects  that 
every  human  being  would  respond  equally  to  his  en- 
vironment, but  all  should  have  the  assurance  that  the  po- 
tential capacity  of  each  would  find  opportunity  for  ex- 
pression, so  that  potential  stupidity  as  well  as  potential 
genius  would  gravitate  each  to  his  own  place,  some  to 
leadership  and  others  to  become  "hewers  of  wood  and 
drawers  of  water." 

A  Newer  Democracy. — To  many  this  may  not  seem 
to  be  democracy,  for  American  democracy  developed  in 
the  Eighteenth  Century,  when  older  and  obsolescent  the- 
ories of  equality  prevailed.  These  emphasized  the  teach- 
ing that  all  normal  men  were  similar  in  heredity  and  if 
surrounded  by  the  same  environment  would  become 
practically  alike  and  be  equal  one  to  the  other.  These 
early  democratic  teachings  were  based  on  the  assumption 
that  men  would  live  a  simple  life,  in  small  village  com- 
munities and  be  engaged  chiefly  in  agriculture.  Under 
such  conditions  a  society  of  approximately  equal  citizens 
might  be  possible.  But  in  these  days  the  United  States 
has  over  one  hundred  millions  of  citizens  living  under 


SOCIAL  GRADATIONS  AND  GENIUS  337 

widely  different  conditions  and  engaged  in  almost  every 
vocation  possible  under  the  sun. 

Then,  too,  the  science  of  biology  has  come,  with  its 
teaching  of  heredity,  stressing  the  importance  of  heredi- 
tary strains,  variations,  mutations,  and  eugenic  mating. 
In  other  words,  the  Eighteenth  Century  assumption  of  a 
negligible  heredity  and  a  similar  environment  as  bases 
for  equality  has,  in  the  Twentieth  Century,  been  dis- 
carded. Democracy  has  to  be  reinterpreted,  therefore 
on  the  assumption  of  wide  differences  in  heredity  and  en- 
vironment and  hence  can  no  longer  be  a  democracy  of 
equality  but  a  democracy  of  equal  opportunity.  This 
sort  of  a  democracy  has  not  yet  been  fully  attained,  al- 
though the  nation  is  working  steadily  in  that  direction. 
Even  if  it  were  attained,  it  would  not  mean  a  social  sys- 
tem in  which  men  would  be  equal  one  to  the  other.  It 
should  mean  equal  opportunities  for  leisure,  education, 
happiness,  and  vocational  choice,  but  inevitably  some 
would  seize  their  opportunities  and  make  the  most  of 
them,  others,  on  the  other  hand,  would  neglect  or  waste 
their  opportunities  or  prove  incapable  of  appreciating 
them,  so  that  in  due  season  there  would  develop  social 
differences  among  citizens  in  attainment,  worthfulness, 
and  distinction. 

Capable  and  intelligent  parents  would  naturally  give  tQ 
their  children  a  more  careful  training  and  higher  social 
environment  than  incapable  and  dull-minded  parents 
could  furnish,  so  that  the  newer  democracy  must  assume 
the  inevitability  of  real  social  distinctions  between  the 
grades  of  its  population,  but  should  see  to  it  that  such 
distinctions  do  not  become  inheritable  through  legal  dis- 
criminations. Society  should  so  control  the  situation 
that  each  generation  may  readjust  itself  as  may  prove 


338  SOCIOLOGY 

necessary,  so  as  to  secure  for  all  children  as  equal  an  op- 
portunity as  conditions  will  allow  to  show  their  capacity 
to  respond  to  the  demands  made  on  them  as  citizens. 
Democracy,  therefore,  should  no  longer  imply  an  im- 
possible equality  in  capacity  or  attainment  but  should 
imply  an  increasing  equality  of  opportunity,  with  the 
understanding  that  when  all  is  said  and  done,  there 
will  exist  an  elite  of  leisure,  attainment,  and  achievement; 
a  body  of  average  citizens  characterized  also  by  attainment 
and  achievement,  but  to  a  lesser  extent;  and  finally,  as 
always,  the  depressed  or  "submerged  tenth"  who,  in  gen- 
eral, will  represent  the  atavistic  and  backward  part.  In 
time,  through  policies  of  social  betterment  and  uplift, 
this  fraction  may  be  vigorously  reduced,  but  presumably 
in  any  society  there  will  always  be  the  extremes  of  su- 
perior and  inferior  classes,  separated  by  the  masses  of 
average  population. 


PART  III 
SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


CHAPTER  XXI 

SOCIETY  AND  THE  INDIVIDUAL 

The  term  "society,"  as  explained  in  Chapter  I,  is  used 
with  widely  different  interpretations.  Properly,  how- 
ever, it  should  always  include  the  notion  of  a  complete 
grouping,  a  complex  of  all  fundamental  activities,  and 
not  a  mere  group  specialized  for  one  purpose  only.  A 
mere  economic  group  is  not  a  society  nor  is  any  social 
institution  by  itself.  Oi  these,  however,  the  family  comes 
the  nearest  in  its  resemblance  to  society  since  it  is  a  sort 
of  social  microcosm,  retaining  as  it  does  so  many  sur- 
vivals from  patriarchal  conditions,  when  the  family  or- 
ganization practically  determined  society. 

Individualism. — Various  attempts  have  been  made 
to  show  the  relationship  of  society  to  the  individuals  who 
compose  its  membership,  on  the  assumption  that  the  parts 
that  make  up  society  are  the  individuals  who  unitedly 
compose  it.  From  this  it  is  easy  to  assume  that  each 
part  by  nature  is  as  important  as  every  other  part.  By 
stressing  the  importance  of  the  individual  the  unity  rela- 
tively losses  importance,  so  that  we  reach  theories  of 
anarchism,  individualism,  human  equality,  and  democ- 
racy. A  man  may  "make"  himself  and  become  a  "self- 
made"  man,  he  has  his  inherent  rights,  his  personality  is 
sacred,  through  his  conscience  he  gives  final  decision  as 
to  what  is  right  or  wrong,  since  he  is  the  "measure  of  all 
things"  his  duty  is  "self-realization,"  and  he  is  the  "ar- 

341 


342  SOCIOLOGY 

biter  of  his  own  destiny,"  the  "captain  of  his  soul,"  de- 
termining the  course  of  his  Hfe  on  earth  and  his  place  of 
abode  after  death. 

This  individualism,  so  strongly  taught  by  the  Sophists 
and  Epicureans  of  Greek  philosophy  found  its  chief  re- 
naissance in  the  social  contract  theories  dominant  in  the 
Seventeenth  and  Eighteenth  Centuries.  According  to 
these  theories  individuals  endowed  with  natural  rights 
and  reason,  living  in  a  state  of  nature  as  free  and  inde- 
pendent persons,  agreed  to  form  social  groups  under  a 
general  government,  and  to  submit  themselves  more  or 
less  to  control,  taking  care  to  dictate  to  it  the  methods  of 
control.  These  contract  theorists  wisely  placed  such 
social  agreements  far  back  in  time  when  men  lived  "in 
a  state  of  nature,"  thereby  evading  the  query  as  to 
whether  after  all  human  personality  is  not  the  product 
of  society  itself  rather  than  the  reverse. 

The  Socialized  Individual. — On  the  other  hand, 
Thucydides  in  the  Funeral  Oration,  writing  in  the  time 
of  the  Sophists,  represents  Pericles  as  explaining  to  the 
Athenians  that  all  they  had  they  owed  to  the  State,  which 
had  reared  them,  trained  them,  and  given  them  oppor- 
tunity to  become  enlightened  citizens  rather  than  igno- 
rant slaves.  Aristotle  also,  in  speaking  of  the  social  na- 
ture of  man,  asserted  that  a  man  who  by  nature  lives 
apart  from  a  state  is  either  a  god  or  a  brute,  being  a 
stranger  to  "tribe  or  law  or  hearth."  This  organic  view- 
point of  Athenian  civilization  can  undoubtedly  be  so  em- 
phasized that  individuals  may  become  mere  automata  un- 
der a  paternalistic  militaristic  regime,  responding  blindly 
to  every  order  or  suggestion  given,  and  becoming  mere 
fractions  of  men  rather  than  the  theoretically  powerful 
personaHties  of  individualistic  societies.     There  is  un- 


SOCIETY  AND  THE  INDIVIDUAL  343 

questionably  danger  from  both  extremes  and  modern  civ- 
ilization is  still  seeking  the  happy  "golden  mean." 

The  Socius. — The  modern  sociological  compromise 
made  between  these  two  extreme  theories  is  voiced  by  the 
word  socius.  No  man  is  born  "free  and  equal"  in  the 
crude  sense  of  the  social  contract  theory,  for  he  has  in- 
herited from  his  ancestry  an  heredity  that,  to  some  ex- 
tent at  least,  will  determine  his  life.  On  the  other  hand, 
this  heredity  is  apparently  not  a  lengthy  catalogue  of 
things  foreordained,  but  rather  a  series  of  interrelated 
potentialities  awaiting  stimulus  from  social  environ- 
ment, in  order  to  develop  a  vigorous  life.  By  contact 
with  this,  every  person  develops  a  social  nature  and  be- 
comes a  socius.  A  solitary  man  never  in  contact  with 
his  fellows  or  social  environment  would  be  merely  a  brute 
of  a  somewhat  higher  order  than  other  animals.  The 
human  part  of  man  is  brought  out  by  contact  with  hu- 
man beings,  and  the  more  numerous  the  contacts  and  the 
higher  in  quality  these  contacts  are,  the  more  truly  hu- 
man and  social  does  the  normal  man  become. 

For  such  and  similar  reasons,  modern  sociology  does 
not  stress  the  older  individualism  of  the  Eighteenth  and 
Nineteenth  centuries,  nor,  on  the  other  hand,  does  it 
favor  a  social  paternalism  that  represses  variation  and 
crushes  out  the  individuality  inherent  in  heredity.  Rather 
it  seeks  to  consider  the  individual  as  a  member  of  groups, 
numerous  and  widely  variant,  each  stimulating  him  in 
one  direction  or  the  other  and  all  unitedly  arousing  his 
potential  nature  into  activity.  From  this  standpoint  ob- 
viously it  is  important  that  human  heredity  and  its  pos- 
sibilities become  more  fully  understood  through  biologi- 
cal and  psychological  research,  and  that  every  individual 
be  so  environed  socially  that  the  lower  potentialities  of 


344  SOCIOLOGY 

his  nature  will  find  small  encouragement,  and  his  higher 
capacities  be  stimulated  to  their  highest  expression.  This 
latter  task  naturally  falls  to  the  lot  of  tliose  institutions 
that  exercise  social  control. 

Social  Control  and  Individualism. — One  of  the 
most  important  problems  in  social  philosophizing  is  the 
maintenance  of  a  proper  balance  between  social  control 
and  individual  initiative,  the  one  tending  toward  static, 
the  other  toward  dynamic  civilization.  It  is  easy  with 
Plato  to  approve  a  form  of  society  in  which  the  wisest 
regulate  with  perfect  system  the  entire  social  order. 
If  only  the  community  could  be  placed  under  the  guid- 
ance of  a  benevolent  monarch,  or  of  the  most  capable 
class,  and  be  told  what  to  believe  and  how  and  when  to 
work  or  play,  social  arrangements  to  many  would  seem 
ideally  perfect.  Unquestionably  in  every  national  group 
a  large  part  of  the  population  would  prefer  just  that  sys- 
tem wishing  for  no  better  lot  than  the  privilege  of  trans- 
ferring all  their  anxieties  to  a  ruling  class  under  the 
guaranty  of  a  sheltering  roof,  a  full  stomach,  and  social 
companionship. 

Yet  in  every  community  there  always  are  others  who 
in  heaven  itself  would  demand  the  privilege  of  intro- 
ducing innovations.^  Pushing,  restless  individualists, 
fond  of  the  stimulus  of  danger,  they  are  eager  to  try  ex- 
periments even  though  in  the  attempt  they  blow  them- 
selves skyward.  What  they  lack  in  numbers  they  make 
up  in  energy,  and  they  insist  on  stirring  up  discord,  even 
when  social  order  has  been  established  and  a  "Roman 
peace"  proclaimed.  One  class  prefers  peace  even  with 
ignominy,  the  other  liberty  or  death.     It  is  the  eternal 

^  Milton's  Satan,  in  Paradise  Lost,  is  an  heroic  figure  and  seems 
to  many  more  attractive  than  his  opponent. 


SOCIETY  AND  THE  INDIVIDUAL  345 

cosmic  opposition  between  inertia  and  motion,  the  cen- 
tripetal and  the  centrifugal,  heredity  and  variation,  ari*- 
tocracy  and  democracy,  socialism  and  individualism. 

Social  control  has  before  it  the  problem  of  harmoniz- 
ing individualism  with  social  standards  and  ideals.  It 
should  emphasize  the  importance  of  a  social  order  with 
its  definite  law,  customs,  and  institutions,  but  should 
make  the  maintenance  of  this  order  depend  on  the  qual- 
ity of  the  individuals,  seeking  always  to  make  these  en- 
ergetic and  intelligent.  It  would  have  society  dominate 
individuals  who  have  themselves  fixed  the  conditions  of 
their  subjection,  and  who  find  under  the  conditions  a 
ready  scope  for  their  energy  and  ambition.  There  should, 
therefore,  be  a  social  control  and  an  individual  initiative, 
both  necessary  factors  for  social  order,  but  so  adjusted 
that  order  woula  become  progressive  and  move  steadily 
forward  toward  its  goal. 

Importance  of  Personality. — On  several  occasions 
attention  has  been  directed  to  the  importance  for  prog- 
ress of  variation,  innovation,  genius,  talent,  a  leisure 
class,  and  individual  initiative.  All  this  practically 
amounts  to  an  emphasis  on  the  importance  of  vigorous 
personality.  Every  individual  has  a  personality  pecul- 
iarly his  own,  even  though  it  may  be  rather  colorless. 
But  there  is  a  personality  that  cannot  always  be  molded 
into  a  social  pattern ;  it  erects  its  own  standards,  crushes 
opposition,  and  creates  achievement,  whether  socially 
beneficial  or  injurious.  There  is  such  a  glamour  about 
vigorous  personalities  that  public  opinion  is  inclined 
to  take  them  at  their  own  value,  to  call  them  "supermen," 
and  to  place  in  their  hands  social  destiny.  Yet  after  all 
such  men  are  the  products  of  heredity  and  environment 
like  other  human  beings,  and  probably  have  a  certain 


346  SOCIOLOGY 

amount  of  defectiveness  in  their  natures,  and,  if  one  may 
judge  of  history,  our  supermen  have  done  possibly  as 
much  harm  as  good. 

Science  is  not  yet  acquainted  v^ith  the  laws  of  heredity 
sufficiently  to  be  able  to  foretell  the  birth  of  a  genius, 
but  if  society,  assuming  much  latent  talent  and  genius 
in  its  members,  should  develop  proper  conditions  for  the 
production  of  genius,  it  would  get  the  benefit  of  a  great 
additional  amount  of  capacity  and  would  probably  give 
the  genius  when  born  truer  ideals  of  action  and  a  deeper 
insight  into  social  needs  than  those  he  might  evolve  un- 
aided. It  is  important  that  society  understand  that 
genius  is  not  superhuman.  There  are  geniuses  in  plant 
and  animal  life  and  specialists  in  these  branches  are  be- 
coming expert  in  multiplying  them.  A  genius  has  hu- 
man parentage  and  grows  up  among  human  beings,  ac- 
quiring from  them  and  nature  every  particle  of  his  knowl- 
edge. From  the  sociological  standpoint  the  essential 
thing,  therefore,  is  not  to  wait  for  the  coming  great 
man,  the  new  Buddha,  with  the  expectation  of  bending 
the  neck  to  his  yoke,  but  rather  to  study  into  the  biolog- 
ical, psychological,  and  sociological  factors  that  unite 
to  produce  genius,  and  then  to  develop  these  factors  so 
as  to  multiply  it,  instead  of  waiting  for  chance  to  bring 
some  superman,  as  likely  to  trample  down  civilization  as 
to  upbuild  it.  Fortunately  there  is  already  sufficient  sci- 
entific knowledge  existent  to  enable  society  to  make  a 
start  in  this  direction.  A  vigorous  stock  of  good  physique 
and  mentality  furnishes  the  basis  for  a  parentage  from 
which  capable  offspring  should  develop.  From  the  psy- 
chological standpoint  it  is  then  necessary  by  a  wise  edu- 
cation of  the  feelings  to  develop  powerful  interests  which 
will  lead  to  a  varied  activity  or  by  concentration  to  a 


SOCIETY  AND  THE  INDIVIDUAL  347 

special  form  of  activity.  The  next  essential  is  that  the 
intellect  be  trained  to  observe,  to  concentrate  attention, 
to  relate  ideas,  and  to  form  conclusions  readily.  Pref- 
erably these  intellectual  processes  should  be  trained  in 
connection  with  the  interests  aroused  through  the  feel- 
ings, so  that  the  mind  will  become  used  to  working  har- 
moniously. Lastly  should  come  the  stimulus  from  con- 
tact with  the  great  thoughts  of  the  time :  through  travel, 
intelligent  conversation,  reading,  and  reflection,  or  by 
observation  of  human  life  with  its  vicissitudes,  its  aspi- 
rations, and  its  toil.  As  society  through  social  control 
and  its  system  of  education  approximates  to  these  con- 
ditions, or  as  families  begin  to  surround  their  children 
with  incitements  to  right  development,  talent  and  genius 
will  be  multiplied  far  in  excess  of  the  crude  methods  of 
nature  unassisted  by  the  human  brain. 

Individuality. — There  are  certain  results  arising  from 
wiser  education  that  sociologically  are  of  great  impor- 
tance. An  untrained  mind  is  prone  to  superstition,  to 
unconscious  imitation  of  environment,  and  is  readily  in- 
fluenced by  foolish  fads  or  the  wild  excitement  of  mobs. 
Training,  however,  gives  the  power  to  discriminate  be- 
tween the  true  and  the  false,  to  be  moderate  in  fashion 
in  spite  of  the  influence  of  social  contagion,  and,  when 
passions  are  aroused  by  the  frenzy  of  a  mob,  it  enables 
one  to  call  the  intellect  to  correct  the  illusions  aroused  by 
deeply  stirred  feelings.  Again,  it  is  socially  important 
that  an  individual  be  able  to  make  wise  judgments  in  re- 
spect to  his  environment.  Naturally  each  person  re- 
mains subject  to  the  habits  of  early  environment,  and 
becomes  static.  But  a  mind  trained  to  make  comparisons 
sees  {XDSsibilities  of  improvement  in  other  environments, 
and  deliberately  selects  these,  so  as  to  develop  higher 


348  SOCIOLOGY 

standards  of  conduct.  In  this  way  he  imitates  consciously 
what  his  judgment  approves,  and  can  add  to  his  capacity 
by  assimilating  a  larger  knowledge  than  otherwise  would 
be  possible. 

Individualism  a  Social  Necessity. — But  all  this  is 
merely  another  way  of  saying  that  the  person  has  be- 
come individualistic.  This  word  unfortunately  is  often 
used  to  mean  that  a  narrow-minded  person  insists  on  his 
own  way  because  of  his  very  ignorance.  Even  a  mule 
has  that  form  of  individualism.  But  the  truer  meaning 
of  the  term  implies  that  the  person  is  no  longer  influenced 
by  the  crowd,  or  by  the  prestige  of  a  great  man,  or  an 
influential  class;  that  he  is  no  longer  the  creature  of 
his  natural  environment,  but  rather  that  his  mind  has 
made  for  itself  a  home  in  that  larger  world  of  thought, 
that  he  has  his  passions  under  the  guidance  of  a  well- 
informed  intellect,  and  works  consciously  toward  defi- 
nite purposes.  The  development  of  this  form  of  indi- 
viduality is  essential  to  true  social  development.  He 
will  best  support  social  order  who  understands  and  ap- 
proves it.  If  there  is  need  of  change  he  seeks  to  ac- 
complish this  with  law  and  plan,  carefully  reasoning  out 
methods  and  ends.  Such  men  in  a  community  steady 
it,  aid  in  its  development,  and  amply  repay  the  costs 
of  general  education.  Society  should  increasingly  seek 
to  develop  this  type  of  citizenship  as  the  surest  guaranty 
of  social  prosperity.  From  it  will  come  achievements  in 
economic  and  civic  life.  Cultural  standards  will  broaden 
under  its  influence,  and  the  man  of  the  coming  century 
will  be  prefigured:  forceful,  intellectual,  of  keen  insight, 
idealistic  in  temperament,  toiling  for  higher  civilization. 
Such  men  combine  in  themselves  the  harmony  of  the 
conflict  between  the  static  and  the  dynamic.    They  repre- 


SOCIETY  AND  THE  INDIVIDUAL  349 

sent  stability  with  variability;  they  are  the  real  aristoc- 
racy, the  elite  of  society,  who  through  education  have 
been  led  to  believe  in  man  and  in  his  capacity  for  progress. 
They  believe  in  a  right  social  order,  but  also  believe  in 
progress  so  that  they  are  neither  conservative  nor  radical, 
but  individuals  who  may  be  either  as  necessity  demands. 

Individuality  through  Education. — The  develop- 
ment of  individuality  through  right  education  will  in  due 
time  become  one  of,  if  not  the  most  important  aspect  of 
social  control.  If  society  through  a  knowledge  of  socio- 
logical principles  may  accelerate  its  own  progress,  individ- 
uals also  should  be  able  to  utilize  these  same  principles, 
so  as  to  ensure  greater  success  in  life,  provided  heredity 
has  supplied  to  them  a  proper  physical  and  mental  basis 
on  which  to  build.  Any  person  who  has  foresight  and 
perseverance,  other  things  being  equal,  and  a  capacity 
to  comprehend  a  telic  policy  for  himself  and  to  persevere 
in  seeking  to  accomplish  it,  should  be  able  to  make  at- 
tainment beyond  his  natural  expectation.  Such  a  policy 
should  first  be  initiated  by  parents  and  teachers,  who 
should  seek  to  build  up  above  all  things  sound  bodies  and 
minds  harmoniously  trained  in  feeling  and  intellect.  As 
maturity  Is  attained  each  individual  for  himself  must 
continue  his  own  development,  preferably  under  guidance, 
until  he  gains  the  confidence  that  comes  from  experience. 

Telesis  in  Education. — It  is  essential  in  the  first  place 
that  the  mind  grasp  the  importance  of  a  telic  policy  as 
against  a  policy  of  drift,  or  genetic  development.  Then 
the  general  aspects  of  a  telic  policy  should  be  fixed  and 
consistently  carried  out,  modifying  details  as  necessity 
arises.  To  this  end  forethought  and  insight  into  causa- 
tion should  be  developed,  so  that  one  may  become  used 
to  the  notion  of  working   for  a  definite  end,  through 


350  SOCIOLOGY 

causes  to  anticipated  effects,  a  mental  habit  readily  built 
up  by  training  in  the  experimental  sciences,  for  instance, 
and  by  a  study  of  inventions.^ 

In  the  second  place  the  distinction  between  static  and 
dynamic  development  should  be  made  clear,  and  the  utility 
of  each  fixed  in  the  mind;  the  one  standing  as  it  does 
for  stability,  and  the  other  for  progress.  Education 
too  often  fixes  the  static,  but  not  the  dynamic.  This  latter 
process  may  be  emphasized  by  evolutionary  studies — 
biological,  psychological,  economic,  religious,  and  so  on. 
When  a  mind  has  once  been  trained  to  use  prevision 
and  causation,  and  has  grasped  the  distinction  between 
stability,  fixity,  and  permanency  on  the  one  hand,  and 
changes  through  modifications  of  environmental  condi- 
tions, adaptation,  and  assimilation  on  the  other — it  from 
that  time  on  has  the  fundamental  qualifications  for 
telic  progress. 

Environing  Conditions. — Then  one  should  study  his 
own  environing  conditions,  looking  first  at  the  physical 
and  the  economic.  A  vigorous  physique  must  be  de- 
veloped as  a  basis  for  later  activity,  but  In  so  doing  the 
body  must  always  be  kept  subordinated  to  the  mind. 
Not  muscle  and  bulk  merely,  but  a  muscular  system  regu- 
lated and  controlled  by  the  Intellect,  so  as  to  make  the 
body  flexible,  able  to  endure  toil,  and  to  ward  off  dis- 
ease. This  necessitates,  of  course,  a  capacity  to  regu- 
late bodily  appetites  and  to  subordinate  them  to  higher 
ends.  In  respect  to  economic  attainment  a  person  should 
see  Its  importance  and  become  familiar  in  a  general  way 
with  economic  achievements.  Preferably  he  should  handle 
tools,  should  become  somewhat  familiar  with  the  utillza- 

*  Herbert    Spencer's    work   on    Education   makes    many   valuable 
suggestions  for  self-training. 


SOCIETY  AND  THE  INDIVIDUAL  351 

tion  of  natural  power,  should  learn  the  value  of  money, 
and  by  experience  the  difficulty  of  earning  it;  then  he 
should  follow  up  this  knowledge  by  a  study  of  govern- 
ment, so  as  to  understand  its  organization  and  its  methods 
of  protecting  and  developing  life  and  property.  This 
should  lead  to  a  study  of  governmental  machinery,  the 
possibilities  of  improving  it,  and  the  ways  in  which 
governments  may  best  become  telic  in  policy,  so  as  to 
adjust  themselves  to  newer  conditions. 

The  Period  of  Adolescence. — In  adolescence  the 
really  important  crisis  in  life  is  at  hand.  Then,  if  ever, 
a  person  must  develop  a  powerful  personality  by  telic 
means.  As  the  feelings  grow  in  strength,  every  atten- 
tion should  be  paid  to  their  proper  development.  Desires 
and  ambitions  collectively  are  the  dynamo  that  will  fur- 
nish energy  for  life's  activities,  and  while  they  are  building 
up  in  intensity  they  should  be  regulated  and  guided. 
A  vigorous  appetite  for  food  is  essential  but  should  be 
under  control  and  guided  by  a  knowledge  of  dietetics ; 
sexual  feelings  should  be  powerful,  but  should  be  di- 
verted from  vice  and  pruriency,  and  trained  into  chivalry 
and  a  deep  respect  for  w^omanhood;  eagerness  for  eco- 
nomic attainment  should  be  encouraged,  but  shown  to  be 
subordinate  to  larger  ends  more  worthy  of  permanent  pur- 
suit; the  imagination  of  youth  should  be  directed  into  the 
idealism  of  early  manhood,  and  the  great  moral  aims 
of  society  made  clear,  such  as  domestic  integrity,  pa- 
triotism, and  social  standards  of  right.  In  adolescence 
and  early  maturity  the  mind  is  easily  brought  under  the 
influence  of  rhythm,  motion,  harmony  of  sound  and  color, 
and  beauty  of  form.  These  aesthetic  cravings  should 
be  rendered  vigorous  by  close  attention  to  the  study  and 
enjoyment  of  the  truly  artistic,  as  against  vicious  pas- 


352  SOCIOLOGY 

sions  or  the  shallowness  of  sentimentality.  This  absorp- 
tion in  the  artistic  may  not  be  permanent,  but  during  the 
time  when  it  is  especially  vigorous,  a  person  should  build 
up  an  appreciation  for  art  in  forms  that  by  their  refin- 
ing effects  on  his  higher  emotions  will  elevate  and  idealize 
all  of  his  later  activities.  In  this  period  of  bounding 
juvenescence  he  must  remember  that  feelings  in  them- 
selves are  not  injurious,  that  the  more  numerous  and 
the  stronger  his  desires,  the  more  powerful  will  be  his 
activities,  but  that  these  dynamic  energies  of  his,  like 
other  forms  of  power,  are  dangerous  if  uncontrolled.  If 
he  loses  control,  and  allows  his  passions  the  upper  hand, 
disaster  will  inevitably  follow. 

Adolescence  also  is  the  proper  period  for  the  sys- 
tematic development  of  the  intellect  itself.  Up  to  that 
time  it  has  been  growing  under  mechanical  processes, 
and  largely  stored  with  routinary  and  miscellaneous  in- 
formation, much  of  which  fortunately  is  speedily  for- 
gotten. Intellectual  development  is  chiefly  a  personal 
process,  though  others  may  suggest  and  guide.  For 
this  reason  higher  education  is  useless  to  many  per- 
sons. Unless  a  youth  will  himself  devote  his  energy 
to  mental  attainment,  the  time  and  expense  of  a  college 
or  university  course  is  largely  wasted,  from  the  intellec- 
tual standpoint  at  least.  Many,  perhaps,  seek  a  college 
degree  merely  for  the  sake  of  the  social  life  of  the  campus 
or  the  social  prestige  arising  from  residence  in  or  gradua- 
tion from  a  university.  On  the  other  hand,  the  value 
of  a  college  education  is  beyond  measure  to  one  who 
is  eager  to  avail  himself  of  its  opportunities  and  desires 
to  cultivate  his  intellect. 

The  Mental  Processes. — In  the  training  of  the  in- 
tellect it  should,  in  the  first  place,  be  considered  a  ma- 


SOCIETY  AND  THE  INDIVIDUAL  353 

chine  and  trained  to  work  easily,  rapidly,  and  steadily; 
in  the  second  place  it  should  be  considered  a  storehouse 
where  information  should  be  systematically  and  care- 
fully arranged. 

(i)  The  first  process  is  simple  enough,  demanding 
only  persistent  labor.  Knowledge  first  passes  into  the 
mind  through  the  senses,  and  each  of  them  must  be  trained 
for  swift  and  accurate  observation,  so  as  to  gain  exact 
information  as  to  the  properties  of  things.  Here  again 
science,  the  laboratory,  and  fine  arts  are  far  better  than 
overmuch  poring  over  books  or  work  in  memorization. 
When  the  senses  have  been  well  trained  in  early  years, 
so  as  to  become  efficient  servants  in  maturity,  attention 
can  then  be  given  to  reasoning  and  generalizing,  a  most 
essential  mental  acquirement.  The  mind  through  heredity 
and  the  constant  repetition^ of  experiences,  performs 
automatically  a  large  share  of  reasoning,  through  the  so- 
called  unconscious  or  sub-conscious  processes.  But,  in 
addition  to  this,  a  person  must  reason  with  full  con- 
sciousness, selecting  some  subject  as  in  a  debate,  re- 
flecting on  it,  combining  information  on  hand  with  newer 
information  sought,  and  seeking  to  work  out  correct  con- 
clusions. This  practice  should  be  constantly  repeated, 
considering  subject  after  subject,  preferably  those  in 
which  one  feels  interest,  such  as  questions  of  ethics,  poli- 
tics, theology,  and  philosophic  and  scientific  hypotheses. 
By  thus  using  the  mental  processes  over  and  over  again, 
taking  increasingly  harder  subjects  for  reflection,  and 
seeking  to  develop  speed  by  concentration,  mental  ma- 
chinery becomes  so  easy  in  its  workings  that  one  forms 
judgments  almost  automatically,  and  thus  accomplishes 
vastly  more  mental  labor  than  if  it  were  necessary  to 
take  each  step  in  reasoning  with  deliberation.     Every 


354  SOCIOLOGY 

capable  person  must  be  able  to  think  and  to  decide  rapidly 
and  exactly,  and  as  a  rule  facility  must  be  developed 
by  long  experience.  In  skilled  games  no  person  becomes 
really  proficient  until  he  acquires  intuition,  so  that  in 
any  given  emergency  he  sees  what  to  do  without  con- 
scious reasoning.  This  power  he  acquires  by  constant 
practice  and  many-sided  experience.  In  the  same  way 
a  judge  in  a  police  court  makes  his  decisions  with  great 
rapidity  and  correctness,  because  he  has  gained  intuitional 
power.  Reverse  the  tasks  of  the  player  and  the  judge, 
and  each  would  have  to  conaume  much  more  time  in  the 
work,  and  the  resulting  decisions  would  be  far  less  satis- 
factory than  if  each  were  in  his  proper  place. 

The  Memory. — If  the  desires  are  vigorous,  the  senses 
keen,  and  the  intellect  in  fine  working  order,  the  memory 
will  be  good  also.  If  the  memory  seems  defective  in 
any  aspect,  assuming  a  normal  condition  of  body  and 
mind,  it  is  because  one  has  no  interest  in,  or  has  not  given 
good  attention  to,  the  subject  matter,  and  has  not  trained 
his  intellect  to  deal  with  that  kind  of  knowledge.  For 
example,  a  person  ordinarily  finds  it  hard  to  remember 
names.  If  he  desires  to  cultivate  facility  in  that  sort  of 
memory,  he  must  arouse  an  interest,  such,  for  instance, 
as  a  priest  or  a  congressman  may  have  in  his  constitu- 
ency; he  must  carefully  observe  peculiarities  on  intro- 
duction, and  must  consciously  try  to  associate  the  name 
and  face.  Interest,  keen  powers  of  observation,  and  con- 
scious effort,  would  in  time  give  the  person  "a  good 
memory  for  names  and  faces." 

(2)  Importance  of  Right  Knowledge. — As  one  ap- 
proaches maturity,  wide  fields  of  knowledge  open  before 
him,  entirely  too  vast  to  be  compassed  in  the  space  of  a 
lifetime,  and  hence  one  must  select  such  departments  of 


SOCIETY  AND  THE  INDIVIDUAL  355 

knowledge  as  seem  most  pleasing-  in  themselves  or  most 
useful  for  later  years.  But  whatever  branch  or  branches 
are  taken  up,  one's  intellect  should  seek  to  see  them  as  a 
whole,  and  in  their  relations  to  other  knowledge,  be- 
fore burying  one's  self  in  details.  Many  capable  minds 
are  ruined  because  overwhelmed  with  a  great  mass  of 
specialized  information,  piled  up  helter-skelter.  The  ca- 
pacity to  see  the  thing  as  a  whole  is  essential  to  mental 
greatness.  Many  officers  can  handle  a  regiment  ad- 
mirably, but  it  takes  a  Foch  to  handle  an  army  as  a 
skilled  player  moves  his  chessmen.  No  great  business 
can  be  well  managed  except  by  a  man  who  sees  the  whole 
of  it  in  his  mind's  eye,  who  knows  the  relative  importance 
of  each  of  its  parts  and  can  put  his  finger  on  the  weak 
spots  of  the  system.  This  capacity  develops  through 
continuous  experience  in  generalizing  an  argument,  or 
by  forming  judgments  and  conclusions;  and  the  lack  of 
it  of  necessity  condemns  one  to  a  comparatively  insig- 
nificant position  in  life. 

The  Choice  of  Ends. — It  is  by  means  of  proper  in- 
formation stored  in  the  mind  that  the  intellect  is  able 
to  direct  feelings  and  desires  toward  telic  ends.  Or- 
dinarily, for  instance,  a  person  conforms  to  his  social 
environment  and  imitates  social  custom.  If,  however, 
his  intellect  has  at  its  command  a  well-stored  mass  of 
information,  it  may  see  that  a  particular  influence  or  cus- 
tom is  retarding  progress  or  is  even  injurious,  and  there- 
fore it  would  suggest  or  call  up  another  possibility  in 
better  accord  with  higher  demands.  Scientific  knowl- 
edge, for  example,  in  respect  to  the  body,  may  call  at- 
tention to  the  effects  of  tobacco,  liquors,  or  sexual  im- 
morality on  bodily  conditions;  psychological  knowledge 
may  suggest  probable  effects  on  the  mind ;  and  sociological 


356  SOCIOLOGY 

information  may  emphasize  social  consequences  of  phys- 
ical indulgences,  and,  as  an  alternative,  suggest  self- 
control  for  the  sake  of  a  larger  and  higher  enjoyment  In 
later  years.  Lacking  such  knowledge  a  person  would 
much  more  easily  be  influenced  to  follow  the  dictates  of 
urgent  physical  desires,  if  only  for  the  sake  of  present 
enjoyment  or  of  social  companionship.  Growth  in  knowl- 
edge, also,  would  cause  the  intellect  to  appreciate  the  im- 
portance of  an  ever-improving  and  broadening  environ- 
ment, so  as  to  enable  a  person  to  adapt  himself  readily, 
and  be  "at  home"  under  all  circumstances.  In  other 
words,  personality  develops;  and  the  individual,  instead 
of  taking  his  tone  like  a  chameleon,  from  his  immediate 
environment,  selects  or  creates  his  own  environment,  and 
affects  those  who  come  within  the  circle  of  his  influence. 
Social  Leadership. — In  so  doing  he  becomes  a 
leader,  not  a  follower,  among  men.  As  an  aid  to  this 
end  by  experience  and  study  he  must  become  familiar 
with  human  nature  ^  and  its  motives  and  acquire  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  best  methods  of  managing  men.  It  is  obvious 
that  to  do  so  one  must  "radiate  power"  and  this  becomes 
possible  only  when  a  person  has  developed  a  powerful 
dynamo  in  his  feelings,  trained  his  intellect  to  think, 
and  has  his  mind  well  stored  with  useful  information. 
Needless  to  say  that  such  a  personality  almost  inevitably 
will  succeed  in  life,  in  the  sense  that  he  will  attain  a  far 
higher  place  than  naturally  would  have  fallen  to  him. 
Accidents,  of  course,  are  possible;  against  the  fates  not 
even  the  gods  can  strive;  a  blow  on  the  head  from  a 
footpad  might  ruin  the  brightest  intellect.  But  rules  hold, 
even  though  there  are  at  times  seeming  exceptions, 

'  One  of  the  best  aids  of  this  sort  may  be  had  from  such  works 
as  Mary  O.  Stanton's  Encyclopedia  of  Face  and  Form  Reading. 


SOCIETY  AND  THE  INDIVIDUAL  357 

Choice  of  Occupation. — In  conclusion,  a  word  may 
be  said  in  regard  to  a  choice  of  occupation.  Sometimes 
heredity  determines  that  by  pronouncing  unmistakably  in 
favor  of  a  certain  pursuit.  At  other  times  environment 
may  plainly  mark  out  an  occupation,  as,  for  instance, 
when  a  young  man  has  before  him  an  attractive  oppor- 
tunity to  continue  the  successful  business  or  profession 
of  a  father,  relative,  or  friend.  But  ordinarily  it  makes 
small  difference  to  a  young  man  in  what  direction  he 
turns  his  energy.  A  well-trained  mind  is  capable  in  al- 
most any  direction.  He  should  intelligently  survey  the 
field,  try  to  form  an  estimate  of  the  possibilities  of  future 
development  in  a  given  occupation  for  the  next  fifty  years, 
take  account  of  his  tastes  and  capacities  as  he  understands 
them,  then  make  his  decision  and  seek  for  an  opportunity. 
If  experience  plainly  proves  the  decision  wrong,  he  should 
not  hesitate  to  change;  but  as  a  rule  changes  should 
not  be  made,  and  will  be  unnecessary  if  proper  considera- 
tion has  been  given.  It  is  regularly  unwise  to  stay  long 
in  some  other  occupation  taken  up  as  a  makeshift.  The 
energy  of  early  manhood  should  be  exerted  in  perma- 
nent directions,  and  not  be  allowed  to  waste  itself  in  work 
on  which  the  highest  ambitions  are  not  set. 

The  Pursuit  of  an  Occupation. — In  taking  up  his 
life  work  one  should  devote  himself  assiduously  to  it 
and  master  it,  even  to  the  loss  or  partial  neglect  of  social 
enjoyment.  It  is  impossible  to  have  everything  in  life, 
and  in  general  one  must  choose  between  physical  and 
social  pleasures  as  an  aim,  and  business  as  an  incidental, 
or  reverse  the  process,  and  make  such  pleasures  subor- 
dinate to  the  higher  satisfactions  arising  from  the  per- 
formance of  duty.  A  well-trained  mind  will  absorb  hap- 
piness from  almost  any  environment,  and  will  find  its 


358  SOCIOLOGY 

highest  enjoyment  in  the  performance  of  a  chosen  voca- 
tion and  in  the  practice  of  civic  and  social  virtues.  When 
a  person  is  once  in  an  occupation,  he  should  develop  the 
qualities  of  perseverance  and  concentrated  energy,  al- 
though always  he  must  remember  that  there  is  a  golden 
mean  between  idleness  and  strain,  and  that  a  capable  man 
needs  leisure  to  mature  his  plans  and  to  add  to  his  hap- 
piness by  the  diversification  of  his  interests.  Finally, 
if  he  will  use  a  well-stored  intellect  in  cooperation  with 
his  feelings  in  the  early  choice  of  a  sympathetic  and  in- 
telligent wife  and  in  the  foundation  of  a  home,  he  will 
show  forethought  in  a  most  useful  direction,  and  the 
benefits  arising  therefrom  will  be  emphasized  with  passing 
years. 


CHAPTER   XXII 


SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


From  the  sociological  standpoint  there  can  be  no  ques- 
tion as  to  the  solid  utility  of  social  investigations.  On 
all  sides  men  are  busily  engaged  in  attempts  to  under- 
stand the  causes  of  social  discontent  and  suffering.  So- 
cial, sympathetic,  and  altruistic  feelings  have  become  so 
strong  in  recent  generations  that  men  cry  out  in  pro- 
test against  conditions,  forgetting  that  pain  and  suffering 
are  the  normal  experiences  of  sentient  life.  When  nature 
seems  kindly  and  bountiful,  men  forget  that  underneath 
the  smile  it  is,  as  Tennyson  put  it,  "red  in  tooth  and  claw." 

The  Struggle  for  Survival. — The  natural  end  of  an 
animal  is  starvation  or  a  violent  death.  Nature  is  en- 
tirely too  fond  of  multiplying  her  offspring,  and  regu- 
larly brings  into  existence  far  more  than  can  possibly 
survive.  The  weaker,  and  the  strong  that  fail  to  secure 
a  favorable  environment,  disappear  in  the  struggle  for 
survival,  and  the  survivors  live  only  as  they  pursue  an 
endless  search  for  food,  and  ruthlessly  carry  on  a  war 
of  exploitation  and  extermination.^ 

This  is  true  also  of  human  kind.  Under  natural  law 
the  larger  proportion  of  human  beings  should  parish  be- 
fore maturity  through  starvation,  disease,  and  slaughter. 
Few  of  the  mature  should  reach  old  age,  for  in  primitive 
savagery  there  are  not  many  leaders  who  have  "known 

'  See,  for  illustrations,  Ward's  Psychic  Factors,  Chap.  XXXIII. 

359 


36o  SOCIOLOGY 

three  generations  of  men."  Dr.  Patten  has  well  charac- 
terized such  a  condition  as  a  "pain  economy."  Human 
effort  in  earlier  ages  was  spent  chiefly  in  vain  attempts  to 
ward  off  misery.  Occasionally  gleams  of  pleasure  bright- 
ened the  gloom  of  fear,  but  on  the  whole  "few  and  evil" 
were  the  years  of  life.  Outside  of  the  group  were  savage 
beasts,  hostile  men,  and  angry  divinities;  within  were 
starvation,  disease,  human  cruelty,  and  a  constant  dread 
of  danger.  The  epics  and  legends,  the  myths  and  the- 
ologies, even  of  later  ages,  are  filled  with  a  spirit  of 
despair,  heightened  by  a  dread  of  an  immortality  either 
of  torture  or  of  empty  existence.^  Even  then  Elysium 
was  for  the  noble  and  learned  only;  the  masses,  as  al- 
ways, in  theory  were  regularly  doomed  to  destruction. 
From,  this  standpoint,  therefore,  one  might  be  tempted 
to  pronounce  the  present  state  of  humanity,  with  all  of  its 
imperfect  social  happiness,  good  by  comparison  with  the 
natural  conditions  of  primitive  and  ancient  civilizations. 
Even  taking  into  consideration  the  present  high  death 
rate,  the  large  per  cent  of  infant  mortality,  the  preva- 
lence of  disease,  the  starvation,  suffering  and  toil  of  an 
unskilled  proletariat,  one  may  yet  be  almost  optimistic 
as  he  compares  these  with  conditions  ages  ago. 

Pessimism  comes  when  one  takes  into  account  an  ideal 
of  perfection.  Before  us  as  a  goal  is  a  time  when  hu- 
manity, by  a  comprehension  of  nature's  law,  will  be  able 
to  induce  nature  to  work  for  man,  not  against  him.  When 
that  time  comes  nature  will  prove  beneficent,  not  malevo- 
lent. It  will  be  a  "pleasure  economy,"  not  a  pain  econ- 
omy. Infant  mortality  and  disease  will  become  acciden- 
tal, not  usual;  starvation  and  vice  will  be  abnormal,  not 

*  See  James  A.  and  Vincent  A.  FitzSimon,  The  Gods  of  Old; 
A.  D.  Godley,  Socrates  and  Athenian  Life  in  His  Day.  Chap.  XI; 
Thomas  D.  Seymour,  Life  in  the  Homeric  Age,  Chap.  XV. 


SOCIAL  PROGRESS  361 

normal  phenomena;  and  life  will  become  joyous  even  to 
the  masses  of  men.  It  is  because  of  this  ideal,  the  product 
of  modern  humanitarianism  and  evolutionary  teachings, 
that  men  grow  indignant  over  modem  social  conditions 
and  labor  feverishly  to  lighten  the  burden  of  the  depressed 
classes,  launching  lurid  tirades  against  the  sins  of  so- 
ciety, the  apathy  of  the  church,  the  corruption  of  politi- 
cians, the  knavery  of  capitalists,  or  the  demagogism  of 
labor,  as  though  these  ancient  evils  were  phenomena  un- 
heard of  up  to  our  generation ! 

Social  Reforms  as  Panaceas. — While  social  investi- 
gation is  valuable,  the  very  quantity  of  social  agitation 
sometimes  tends  to  become  a  handicap  to  progress.  There 
are  so  many  reforms  to  assist,  so  many  appeals  for  finan- 
cial aid  in  humanity's  name,  that  by  their  very  reiteration 
men's  minds  become  dulled  to  the  whole  social  question. 
They  call  down  a  pest  on  reformers  as  radicals  and 
cranks,  and  soothe  their  consciences  with  the  thought  that 
the  world  has  wagged  along  safely  for  a  few  thousand 
years,  and  probably  will  last  their  day  out  at  least.  "After 
us,  the  deluge"  is  still  the  sentiment  of  many  men.  And 
yet  any  one  at  all  familiar  with  the  times  must  be  con- 
vinced that  in  their  hearts  men  are  eager  for  social  im- 
provement, and  would  welcome  a  system  that  would  give 
play  to  the  nobler  emotions  and  ambitions  of  Hfe,  and 
result  in  the  lessening  of  human  misery.  They  are  sim- 
ply suspicious,  and  rightly  so,  of  the  numerous  panaceas 
that  are  warranted  to  cure  all  social  evils,  like  so  many 
patent  medicines,  which  are  more  lil<ely  to  hasten  than  to 
retard  degeneration.  There  is  a  sense,  therefore,  in  which 
it  might  be  maintained  that  our  numerous  social  reforms 
are  doing  more  harm  than  good.  Persons  engaged  in 
them  are  often  so  busily  occupied  with  special  phases 


362  SOCIOLOGY 

that  the  situation  as  a  whole  is  neglected,  and  waste  in 
time,  energy,  and  money  becomes  inevitable.  One  would 
not  be  rash  in  saying  that  the  waste  through  social  vices 
is  to  a  considerable  extent  duplicated  by  the  waste  due  to 
the  defective  and  competing  methods  of  religious,  moral, 
and  social  agencies  in  reform. 

The  Utility  of  Sociology. — Can  there  not  then  be 
found  in  sociology,  if  not  well-established  laws,  at  least 
suggestions  that  will  afford  a  basis  for  a  larger,  more 
inclusive  policy,  than  can  be  furnished  by  experimenting 
one  after  the  other  with  the  many  reforms  of  the  day? 
Sociology  is  not  so  rash  as  to  announce  itself  with  smug 
complacency  as  the  science  already  possessed  of  the  knowl- 
edge needed  to  make  man  wise.  All  that  it  can  do  at 
present  is  to  take  up  the  problem  as  a  whole,  to  indicate 
the  possibilities  in  the  case,  and  to  study  more  and  more 
deeply  into  the  situation,  so  as  to  be  of  help  in  the  elimi- 
nation of  evil  and  in  the  strengthening  of  beneficial  ten- 
dencies in  society.  It  is  not  at  all  probable  that  much  will 
be  accomplished  in  a  generation  or  several  of  them,  but 
even  if  thousands  of  years  ^  should  be  needed  for  the  at- 

*  Lester  F.  Ward  estimated  that  under  present  cosmic  conditions 
man  may  expect  to  find  the  earth  habitable  for  at  least  3,000,000 
years  longer!  In  an  article  on  Mars  in  the  Brown  (Univ.)  Alumni 
Monthly   (March,  1907),  he  said: 

"The  human  race  is  supposed  to  have  existed  between  200,000 
and  300,000  years ;  let  us  say  one  quarter  of  one  million  years.  It 
has  been  conscious  of  its  existence  only  about  10,000  years,  and 
really  alive  as  a  psychic  being  less  than  5,000  years.  The  most 
that  it  has  accomplished  of  any  value  to  itself  has  been  done 
within  2,000  years,  and  its  great  work  within  200  years.  In  a 
word,  relatively  speaking,  man  has  only  just  begun  to  exist.  His 
golden  age,  as  Saint-Simon  said,  is  before  him  and  not  behind  him. 
His  history  is  but  the  threshold  of  the  Psychozoic  age.  The  whole 
of  that  immense  period  lies  before  him.  The  conditions  of  existence 
on  this  earth  are  now  at  their  optimum.  Abundance  of  air  and 
water,  heat  and  light,  great  variety  of  surface,  soil,  climate,  mineral 
resources,  and  all  the  materials  and  forces  of  nature  ready  to  yield 
to  the  magic  wand  of  science.    There  are  no  indications  that  these 


SOCIAL  PROGRESS  363 

tainment  of  a  fair  degree  of  social  happiness,  the  consum- 
mation will  come  the  sooner  through  telesis,  and  even  a 
slight  acceleration  in  the  rate  of  progress  is  worth  striv- 
ing for. 

One  thing,  however,  is  sure,  that  if  society  is  to  con- 
tinue to  make  progress  it  cannot  permanently  allow  to 
exist  the  present  hindrances  to  a  better  civilization.  These 
hindrances  are  removable  for  they  are  either  natural  con- 
ditions that  can  largely  be  remedied  by  a  deeper  knowl- 
edge of  science,  or  they  are  defects  of  the  social  system, 
the  products  of  low  civilization,  and  the  same  human  men- 
tality that  in  ignorance  created  them  can  with  a  deeper 
insight  exterminate  them. 

Static  Civilization. — It  is  essential,  however,  that 
civilization  cease  to  be  considered  static  and  that  it  be 
recognized  as  dynamic.  Static  civilization  implies  that 
society  has  already  attained  its  standards  of  perfection,  or 
has  them  so  clearly  in  mind  that  the  realization  of  them 
seems  immediately  possible.  Such  beliefs  have  been  held 
in  the  past,  as  for  example  in  the  celestial  kingdom  of 
China,  and  in  times  of  ignorance  there  may  be  justifica- 
tion for  emphasis  on  static  conditions.  It  certainly  must 
be  a  satisfaction  to  a  man  to  survey  in  his  mind  the  social 
institutions  and  the  standards  of  his  country,  and  to  de- 
cide that  they  need  no  alteration.    There  is  an  inevitable  • 

conditions  will  change  in  an  entire  geologic  epoch.  These  favorable 
conditions  are  certainly  liable  to  last  as  long  as  the  Tertiary  period 
just  closed  has  lasted,  namely,  3,000,000  years.  They  may  continue 
.  .  .  12,000,000  years.  And  what  does  a  million  years  mean?  .  .  . 
For  us  the  Psychozoic  age,  or  any  considerable  part  of  it,  means 
eternity.  Thus  viewed,  man's  prospects,  instead  of  being  dark,  are 
fairly  roseate,  and  the  contrast  with  that  old  decadent  orb  [Mars] 
that  is  now  telling  us  its  story,  instead  of  depressing  us,  should  in- 
spire us  with  thankfulness  that  we  are  young,  with  faith  in  an  un- 
limited future,  and  with  buoyant  aspirations  for  the  progress  of 
humanity." 


364  SOCIOLOGY 

craving  in  every  mind  for  just  such  a  decision;  the  aver- 
age person  is  inclined  to  think  his  own  family,  his  re- 
ligion, his  country  best,  and  this  self-satisfaction,  with  its 
resultant  inertia,  readily  favors  the  development  of  a 
static  civilization. 

There  really  is  a  justification  for  such  a  condition  of 
mind.  What  has  been  proven  by  long  experience  is  at 
any  rate  good,  and  changes  are  as  likely  to  be  bad  as  bene- 
ficial. The  mother  dreads  to  see  her  child  leave  home 
for  the  sake  of  a  larger  life,  and  apprehensively  seeks 
to  retain  him  under  her  watchful  care.  It  is  easy  to  sym- 
pathize with  a  religious  body  that  dreads  to  favor  "mod- 
ernism" in  thought,  or  with  a  government  that  hesitates  to 
change  its  fundamental  law,  lest  in  either  case  the  flood 
gates  be  swept  away  and  old  landmarks  obliterated.  Na- 
tions naturally  prefer  to  surround  themselves  by  Chinese 
walls,  or  to  point  grim  cannon  at  intruders,  and  to  look 
suspiciously  on  foreigners  and  alien  institutions  that 
threaten  to  "break  down  the  bulwarks  of  our  civiliza- 
tion." And  yet,  notwithstanding  this  natural  conserva- 
tism, social  thinkers  are  agreed  that  society  should  be- 
come dynamic,  and  that  it,  like  another  Columbus,  should 
push  resolutely  out  on  unknown  waters  in  the  hope  of 
finding  a  shorter  route  to  Utopia.  But  the  experience  of 
nations  plainly  shows  that  change  involves  danger.  There 
is  safety  in  the  old,  even  though  glory  is  lacking,  and  the 
path  of  progressive  states  is  marked  by  national  wreck 
and  ruin.  It  is  the  static  East  that  survives,  and  the  stir- 
ring nations  of  the  West  that  rise  and  fall.  Yet  Tenny- 
son remarked  once,  "Better  fifty  years  of  Europe  than  a 
cycle  of  Cathay,"  and  apostles  of  the  strenuous  life  from 
time  immemorial  have  chosen  death  in  battle  in  preference 
to  a  weak  old  age.    Urged  on  by  the  vigor  of  a  combative 


SOCIAL  PROGRESS  365 

ancestry,  Western  civilization  in  its  philosophy  is  defi- 
nitely committed  to  the  doctrine  of  progress. 

Dynamic  Movements. — In  the  Eighteenth  Century 
philosophers  of  the  type  of  Rousseau  inferred  that  dy- 
namic changes  could  only  be  accomplished  by  eliminating 
the  old  entirely,  and  making  to  order  an  up-to-date  sys- 
tem warranted  to  satisfy  the  requirements  of  the  most  ex- 
acting Utopian.  The  French  Revolution  was  a  remark- 
able dynamic  movement,  and  the  effects  of  it,  which  were 
experienced  throughout  the  entire  Nineteenth  Century, 
showed  clearly  the  possibilities  inherent  in  dynamic 
changes,  but  argued  against  any  attempt  to  revolutionize 
conditions  by  too  hasty  measures.  The  experiences  of 
Russia  at  present  are  of  the  same  sort,  but  in  due  time 
out  of  the  welter  of  its  chaotic  experimentation  will  arise 
new  teachings  and  object  lessons,  illustrative  of  the  po- 
tential energies  of  a  great  nation  in  a  revolutionary  era. 
Even  if  society  knew  absolutely  what  is  the  ideal  of  so- 
cial reorganization,  it  would  be  far  wiser  to  favor  a  pol- 
icy of  "watchful  waiting,"  to  introduce  changes  gradu- 
ally but  systematically,  training  men  generation  after 
generation  to  a  character  suited  to  the  newer  civilization. 
Sociology,  therefore,  is  not  in  favor  of  revolutions  so 
much  as  for  a  progressive  civilization  in  which  changes 
are  made  after  proper  preparation,  one  step  at  a  time  but 
a  step  every  time.  A  dynamic  movement  may  be  genetic 
or  telic,  as  already  explained.  If  the  movement  is  gen- 
etic, the  changes  seem  accidental ;  they  may  happen  to  be 
either  good  or  bad,  and  not  being  consciously  caused  by 
society,  seem  to  be  beyond  its  control.  For  that  reason 
men  charge  such  changes  as  may  be  noted  to  fate,  to  the 
will  of  the  gods,  to  blind  chance,  or  the  iron  law  of  des- 
tiny, they  become  pessimists  in  misfortune,  optimists  in 


366  SOCIOLOGY 

prosperity  and  fatalists  at  all  times.  On  the  other  hand 
societies  that  adopt  telic  policies  and  slowly  break  away 
from  static  standards,  may  happen  to  be  rash  in  their 
choices.  Social  movement  may  be  forward  or  it  may  be 
backward.  Even  in  the  East  there  is  a  Korea  and  a  Ja- 
pan; one  fallen,  for  the  time,  from  its  former  greatness, 
the  other  pushing  forward  from  genetic  development  to 
telic  progress. 

Genetic  or  Telic  Purpose.- — In  the  settlement  of 
the  Great  West  a  family  might  wander  aimlessly  toward 
the  setting  sun,  following  buffalo  paths  and  streams,  and 
finally  settle  where  impulse  led  or  obstacles  prevented 
further  progress.  Or  it  might  by  inquiry  ascertain  in 
advance  a  desirable  location  for  a  home  and  the  best 
route  for  travel,  and  then  might  make  suitable  prepara- 
tions for  reaching  its  destination  with  the  proper  equip- 
ment for  farming  in  the  new  country.  In  both  cases 
there  is  purpose,  but  in  the  first  it  is  hazy  and  genetic, 
in  the  other  thoughtful  and  clearly  telic.  In  the  same 
manner  a  social  group  committed  to  a  progressive  policy, 
will  more  probably  attain  its  purpose  if  it  should  first 
thoughtfully  formulate  clearly  the  policy,  plan  the  means 
of  accomplishing  it,  and  then  gradually  push  it  through, 
making  modifications  in  the  plan  from  time  to  time,  if  such 
should  seem  necessary.  The  development  of  governmen- 
tal policies  of  this  sort  is  marked.  Japan  reorganized  its 
government  after  plans  carefully  worked  out  by  com- 
missions; Switzerland  bases  much  of  its  legislation  on 
the  reports  of  experts.  The  Hague  Conferences,  Pan- 
American  Congresses,  the  Postal  Union,  and  the  League 
of  Nations  illustrate  the  growing  universality  of  the  idea 
that  group  activity  should  be  based  on  the  carefully  pre- 
pared opinions  of  expert  authorities.     This  tendency  is 


SOCIAL  PROGRESS  367 

not  so  evident  in  those  institutions  that  by  nature  tend 
to  be  static,  such  as  law,  medicine,  the  church,  and  edu- 
cation. In  these,  precedents,  dogmatism,  static  author- 
ity, and  vested  interests  unite  to  maintain  the  system  and 
to  suppress  innovations.  The  best  illustrations  of  telic 
progress  can  be  found  in  economic  life  and  in  science, 
whose  leaders  of  necessity  must  favor  innovation  and 
achievement  and  cut  loose  from  outworn  methods  and  ob- 
solete knowledge. 

The  question  next  arises  whether  modern  society,  if 
one  assumes  that  it  is  definitely  identified  with  a  dynamic 
and  telic  civilization,  has  available  sufficient  knowledge 
on  which  to  base  a  forward  movement.  The  answer  should 
unquestionably  be  affirmative.  The  immediate  need  is  not 
the  amassing  of  more  information,  but  rather  the  larger, 
dissemination  of  the  truths  already  discovered,  and  in- 
cidentally, investigations  as  to  the  best  means  of  applying 
these  principles  to  the  varying  conditions  of  social  life. 

Social  Utopias. — A  suggestion  in  respect  to  this 
matter  can  be  obtained,  strangely  enough,  from  the  strik- 
ing unanimity  of  Utopian  writers  in  respect  to  social  bet- 
terment. Famous  Utopians,  from  Plato's  time  on,  agreed 
in  emphasizing  the  fundamental  necessity  of  a  proper  bal- 
ance between  carefully  planned  schemes  of  economic  and 
educational  reorganization.  Rarely  does  a  Utopian  in 
his  writings  lay  much  stress  on  the  form  of  political  or- 
ganization, or  on  religion,  or  on  the  family  group,  or 
on  the  necessity  of  formal  moral  teaching  as  the  deter- 
mining factors  in  social  life.  These  are  assumed  to  be  of 
importance,  but  matters  that  on  the  whole  need  small  at- 
tention, if  only  the  fundamentals  already  mentioned  are 
carefully  worked  out.  This  practical  unanimity  of  Uto- 
pian writers  is  not  to  be  ascribed  to  a  mere  imitation  of 


368  SOCIOLOGY 

great  models.'*  It  represents  the  logical  conclusion  of  a 
poetic  and  philosophic  type  of  mind  becoming  prophetic 
as  it  tries  to  see  the  outcome  of  the  chaos  of  conflicting 
interests  by  which  it  is  surrounded.^ 

This  conclusion  of  Utopians  seems  to  be  corroborated 
by  the  trend  of  recent  sociological  writers,  who  after  a 
careful  study  of  the  determining  factors  in  social  develop- 
ment argue  strongly  for  solutions  in  which  economic  and 
educational  factors  are  emphasized.  The  great  socialis- 
tic movement  of  the  day,  which  is  so  powerfully  affecting 
the  legislation  and  policies  of  Europe,  is  an  economic  so- 
lution, based  on  the  so-called  economic  determinism  of 
Karl  Marx.  It  is  probably  neither  wise  nor  expedient 
to  adopt  Marxian  socialism  as  the  last  word  in  the  solu- 
tion of  the  social  problem;  but  undoubtedly  some  newer 
economic  policy,  coupled  with  a  more  vigorous  educa- 
tional system,  is  inevitable.  Society  should  evolve  grad- 
ually, and  it  is  the  part  of  civic  vv^isdom  to  keep  the  move- 
ment under  telic  control;  but  if  barriers  are  erected  in 
the  hope  of  maintaining  permanently  existing  conditions, 
the  rising  tide  of  discontent  will  sweep  them  away  by 
revolution.  Telic  evolution  is  far  better  than  revolution, 
but  even  revolution  is  to  be  preferred  to  repression  and 
stagnation. 

The  Social  Goal. — Society  in  seeking  to  expedite 
progress  should  properly  have  before  it  a  tangible  goal 
towards  which  it  should  strive.     Now  sociology  has  no 

*  There  is  a  tendency  on  the  part  of  Utopians  to  follow  the  educa- 
tional pattern  set  by  Plato  in  his  Republic  and  Laws,  or  the 
economic  system  offered  by  Sir  Thomas  More,  but  there  are  wide 
variations  from  these  in  the  more  modern  Utopias. 

"  Among  the  most  su^?gestive  of  modern  Utopias  should  be  men- 
tioned :  Bulwer's  The  Coming  Race,  William  Morris'  News  from 
Nowhere,  Hertzka's  Frecland,  Bellamy's  Looking  Backzvard,  and 
Equality,  Sweven's  Limanora,  the  Island  of  Progress,  and  Butler's 
Erewon  and  Erewon  Revisited. 


SOCIAL  PROGRESS  369 

ideal  in  the  sense  that  there  is  a  fixed  social  model  in 
harmony  with  which  all  details  ought  to  conform.  The 
ideal  of  sociology  will  presumably  change  from  age  to 
age,  since  millions  of  years  yet  lie  before  us.  What  seems 
good  in  the  light  of  present  knowledge  may  in  later  gen- 
erations be  deemed  defective,  because  of  changed  condi- 
tions and  larger  knowledge.  The  personal  equation  in 
Western  civilization  is  different  from  that  in  the  East, 
so  that  even  from  the  same  facts  another  type  of  intellect 
might  reach  a  different  conclusion.  Heredity  and  social 
environment  also  determine  "an  attitude  of  mind,"  and 
this  is  a  factor  in  any  process  of  reasoning.  Yet  dif- 
ferent conclusions  have  their  utility,  since  a  generaliza- 
tion of  many  viewpoints  has  a  certain  sort  of  finality. 
At  any  rate,  such  a  consensus  is  a  fairly  safe  guide  for 
practical  purposes,  and,  after  all,  if  the  general  direction 
of  movement  is  known,  the  landing  spot  may  be  ignored. 
Columbus  believed  that  he  would  find  India  by  sailing 
westward,  but,  though  failing  in  that,  America  was  not 
a  bad  substitute.  So  in  sociological  theorizing  one  may 
feel  sure  of  certain  general  principles,  even  though  the 
varying  factors  in  heredity  and  environment  are  too  com- 
plex to  justify  a  prediction  in  details.  No  attempt,  there- 
fore, will  here  be  made  to  work  out  a  description  of  a 
Utopia  to  be  attained  through  sociology,  but  rather  cer- 
tain aspects  of  social  development  will  be  restated,  as 
basal  for  any  theory  of  social  aim. 

Social  Change. — From  this  standpoint,  therefore, 
we  may  well  start  with  the  evolutionary  teaching  of 
change.  We  know  that  there  is  nothing  fixed  in  the  uni- 
verse; all  is  in  constant  motion,  and  changes  involving 
integration  and  disintegration  are  always  in  evidence. 
Things  seem  unchanging  to  us  because  of  our  shortsight- 


370  SOCIOLOGY 

edness  and  mental  incapacity.  Our  most  permanent  insti- 
tutions and  beliefs  have  their  history  of  origins  and  de- 
velopment, and  instead  of  there  being  "no  new  thing 
under  the  sun"  it  v^^ould  be  truer  to  say  that  all  things  are 
ever  new.  The  many  institutions,  customs,  and  beliefs 
that  seem  to  us  so  stable  are  only  relatively  so.  No  gener- 
ation, therefore,  should  seek  to  imitate  ancestral  customs 
in  toto,  and  every  generation  should  expect  to  find  that  its 
successor  had  a  different  viewpoint  in  belief  and.activity. 

If  the  relativity  of  static  conditions  is  perceived,  and 
the  eternal  law  of  change  admitted,  then  a  society  should 
avoid  a  pessimistic  attitude  by  seeking  so  to  use  its  in- 
tellect as  to  guide  to  some  extent  at  least  the  genetic 
changes  of  nature.  Ingrained  stupidity  destroys  the  pos- 
sibility of  progress,  and  a  society  mentally  inert  might 
as  well  fold  its  hands  and  take  passively  the  bitter  ex- 
periences that  nature  will  so  abundantly  supply.  Prog- 
ress belongs  to  the  society  that  realizes  that  its  evolution 
can  become  telic,  that  it  is  possible  to  work  out  a  policy 
of  improvement,  and  that  the  necessary  basic  knowledge 
is  already  existent.  Presumably  no  general  policy  could 
be  put  into  practice  instantly,  for  forethought  and  plan- 
ning involve  patience  and  time,  and  human  experience 
teaches  that  the  best  always  costs  most  and  comes  with 
infinite  slowness. 

Social  Flexibility. — In  developing  a  social  policy  of 
progress,  it  is  not  sufficient,  therefore,  to  reproduce  by 
imitation  past  attainments;  society  must  also  encourage 
by  every  means  improvements,  and  add  constantly  new 
achievements  to  strengthen  its  civilization.  Not  the  least 
of  possible  achievements  would  be  a  mental  capacity  to 
discard  the  obsolete  in  favor  of  a  better  device  and  a 
truer  knowledge.    Society,  like  some  animals,  must  occa- 


SOCIAL  PROGRESS  371 

sionally  shed  its  skin  so  as  to  allow  growth  and  vigor; 
like  a  business  establishment  or  a  household,  it  has  its 
garret  where  is  stored  long-accumulated  trash,  await- 
ing a  cleaning  or  a  burning.  It  is  socially  more  dan- 
gerous to  hold  on  too  long  to  the  old  than  to  reach  out 
too  eagerly  for  the  new.  Old  books  are  best,  but  most 
old  books  are  obsolete,  and  as  a  rule  every  generation 
makes  its  own  best  books.  A  society  should  be  willing, 
like  a  manufacturing  plant,  to  throw  on  the  junk  heap 
its  outworn  social  machinery,  customs,  and  teachings, 
and  conserve  and  develop  what  is  most  useful  for  present 
conditions.  Its  primary  achievement,  of  course,  will  be 
the  wiser  utilization  of  all  forms  of  material  and  energy 
supplied  by  nature,  so  as  to  free  mankind  from  the  curse 
of  unskilled  labor,  and  with  a  more  scientific  biological 
and  chemical  knowledge  to  improve  the  quality  and  quan- 
tity of  foods. 

Socialization  Through  Education. — On  the  basis  of 
these  attainments  should  come  all  sorts  of  scientific 
achievements,  a  broadening  of  the  influence  of  art  in  all 
of  its  forms,  the  moralizing  of  social  institutions,  and  the 
unifying  of  knowledge.  Education  through  the  press 
and  the  school,  should  be  pushed  far  more  vigorously 
than  at  present,  so  as  to  spread  broadcast  the  most  use- 
ful knowledge,  and  thus  to  create  a  public  opinion  that 
would  sustain  a  social  telic  policy.  The  process  of  so- 
cialization is  best  carried  on  through  education.  A  nar- 
row education  results  in  a  socialization  characterized 
by  self-satisfaction  and  inertia,  easily  becoming  unpro- 
gressive.  The  more  and  larger  the  education  the  more 
truly  does  one  become  at  the  same  time  socialized  and  in- 
dividualized. A  fixed  education  restricts  a  man's  men- 
tality, but  a  mind  that  absorbs  broad  knowledge  grows 


372  SOCIOLOGY 

by  what  it  feeds  on  and  develops  personality.  The  aim 
of  socialization  is  to  create  a  sort  of  federation,  made  up 
of  strongly  individualized  personalities  unified  for  com- 
mon social  purposes.  Education  accomplishes  this  by 
building  up  the  higher  emotions  and  the  intellect,  sup- 
plying them  with  information,  and  opening  up  a  great 
field  of  social  activity. 

Social  Activity  is  Constructive. — It  is  important  to 
fix  clearly  the  principle  that  social  activity  tends  to  be 
either  prohibitive,  regulative,  or  constructive  in  kind. 
Prohibitions  imply  that  there  is  social  depravity  and  that 
offenders  must  be  punished  or  exterminated.  Regulations 
assume  the  general  ignorance  of  mankind,  which  must  be 
guided  by  its  more  capable  members.  A  constructive  pol- 
icy develops  when  the  average  person  is  intelligent  enough 
to  appreciate  and  originate  improvements  in  the  social 
system.  Society  should  free  itself  from  a  morality  of 
don'ts  by  eliminating,  as  far  as  possible,  human  depravity 
through  scientific  knowledge  of  racial  and  endemic  ®  im- 
provement. It  would  have  regulation  grow  less  burden- 
some, less  compulsory,  less  imitative  in  kind,  and  become 
the  regulation  suited  to  a  democracy;  that  is,  such  as. 
public  opinion  sees  to  be  necessary  under  the  conditions, 
and  formulates  into  law,  cheerfully  obeyed  by  its  makers. 
It  would  have  society  through  education  develop  a  type 
of  citizenship  able  to  comprehend  the  life  of  society  as  a 
whole  and  constructively  to  build  up  a  higher  form  of 
civilization.  In  passing  through  these  stages,  one  by 
one,  the  methods  of  social  control  change  from  intimida- 
tion to  persuasion,  from  the  fear  of  punishment  to  the 
stimulation  of  hope,  from  a  compulsory  uniformity  to  a 

"See    article    by    Lester    F.    Ward,    "Eugenics,    Euthenics    and 
Eudemics,"  American  Journal  of  Sociology,  May,   1913. 


SOCIAL  PROGRESS  373 

conscious  imitation  of  the  good  and  a  deliberate  attempt  to 
find  a  better.  It  eliminates  constructively,  by  tearing 
down  while  it  builds,  and  using  for  the  new  edifice  the 
valuable  parts  of  the  old.  Society  will  therefore  enter 
on  its  rightful  inheritance  when  it,  through  science,  sees 
clearly  how  to  improve  its  racial  stock,  to  add  continu- 
ously to  its  economic  and  cultural  achievement,  and  to 
impart  its  knowledge  wisely  to  each  generation  through 
the  stimulation  of  human  desires,  under  the  guidance  of  a 
well-trained  intellect  supplied  with  useful  knowledge. 

Social  Ideals. — In  so  doing  society  will  find  its 
chief  stimulus  in  a  still  deeper  insight  into  the  possibiH- 
ties  of  development.  Evolution  looks  forward  as  well  as 
backward.  The  backward  glance  causes  men  to  see  as 
through  a  glass  darkly;  they  are  yet  to  see  face  to  face.'^ 
They  must  forget  the  things  that  are  behind  and  stretch 
forward  to  the  things  that  are  before.^  As  incentives  to 
human  activity,  society  already  offers  many  social  ideals 
familiar  through  the  great  humanitarian  movements  of 
the  last  two  hundred  years.  The  social  history  of  that 
period  clearly  indicates  how  men  have  toiled  and  suf- 
fered for  ideals  of  freedom,  democratic  opportunity,  and 
human  brotherhood.  About  us  at  the  present  time  we 
see  the  zeal  and  energy  displayed  in  agitation  for  the 
rights  of  women  and  children,  the  rights  of  labor,  and 
the  movements  for  social  reorganization  and  world  peace. 

Arising  into  social  consciousness  are  demands  for 
health,  recreation,  and  a  broader  education;  for  a  fair 
wage,  a  decent  standard  of  living,  a  chance  to  "make 
good,"  and  a  "square  deal."  Soon  there  will  develop  a 
constantly  growing  demand  for  the  eradication  of  pauper- 

^  I  Corinthians  XIII,  12. 
•Philippians  III,  13. 


374  SOCIOLOGY 

ism,  disease,  vice,  and  crime.  The  brothel  and  the  slum 
must  go,  and  perverted  and  degenerate  stocks  must  cease 
to  propagate  their  kind.  There  is  a  demand  for  the  de- 
velopment of  dormant  capacity,  for  a  larger  life,  and  for 
an  ideal  of  social  welfare  that  will  fill  men's  hearts  with  an 
ardent  desire  to  assist  in  building  up  social  achievement. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

THE  ELIMINATION   OF  SOCIAL  EVILS 

Backward  Civilization. — In  any  consideration  of 
the  forward  movement  of  civilization  one  is  impressed  by 
the  fact  that  there  are  in  society  many  conditions  that 
unitedly  form  a  serious  hindrance  to  progress.  This 
dynamic  age  demands  great  adaptabiHty  in  social  insti- 
tutions and  human  mentality,  but  these  as  a  rule  manifest 
a  rigidity  that  resists  even  slight  changes.  Of  course  in- 
stitutions and  persons  excessively  conservative  in  time 
lose  their  importance,  but  their  inertia  retards  the  prog- 
ress of  the  whole  community.  If  civilization  were  through- 
out telic,  it  would  advance  evenly ;  as  it  is,  however,  there 
are  always  backward  and  degenerating  communities,  or 
favorable  opportunities  not  utilized,  to  impede  progress. 
Every  country  has  sections  where  hopefulness  and  en- 
ergy abound,  and  sections  where  stagnation  breeds  de- 
generation. If  the  unprogressive  part  is  strong  enough  to 
hold  back  the  progressive,  even  though  dynamic  condi- 
tions are  favorable,  a  nation  may  sink  from  its  rightful 
place  among  states,  to  be  ranked  as  backward  in  civiliza- 
tion. So,  likewise,  a  society  may  be  retarded  by  unwise 
prohibitions,  unscientific  regulations,  and  by  its  inability 
through  ignorance  to  see  the  best  methods  of  taking  ad- 
vantage of  opportunities.  There  is,  for  example,  no  in- 
herent reason  why  society  should  permanently  be  de- 
pressed by  a  great  weight  of  vice,  crime,  pauperism,  and 

375 


376  SOCIOLOGY 

ignorance.  While  these  hindrances  to  civilization  presum- 
ably will  always  exist  to  some  extent,  still,  if  society  would 
use  the  wisdom  already  existent  these  evils  should  be 
steadily  reduced  until  they  would  become  a  vanishing 
quantity.  In  place,  therefore,  of  pessimistically  lament- 
ing the  sins  of  the  age,  society  should  seriously  set  about 
the  problem  of  removing  retarding  conditions;  a  task  by 
no  means  chimerical,  but  scientifically  possible. 

Sociology  and  Social  Problems. — At  the  same  time 
every  one  knows  that  it  is  much  easier  to  tell  what  should 
have  been  done  than  to  explain  what  should  be  done.  It 
is  comparatively  easy  to  point  out  the  mistakes  of  earlier 
generations,  but  one  has  not  the  same  assurance  when  he 
seeks  to  show  the  proper  solution  for  present-day  prob- 
lems. The  reason  is  obvious  enough ;  time  gives  a  better 
perspective,  wise  conclusions  in  regard  to  past  policy  are 
numerous,  and  partisan  considerations  no  longer  tend 
to  warp  the  judgment.  The  opposite  conditions  exist 
when  a  current  problem  is  pressing  for  solution,  and  the 
wisest  person  may  in  consequence  err.  Yet  if  sociology 
is  simply  to  serve  as  a  final  judge  on  the  past  and  not  to 
be  of  real  assistance  in  present  difficulty,  it  will  find  no 
place  in  the  reading  of  the  man  of  affairs.  It  is  essential, 
therefore,  that  if  sociology  has  within  itself  scientific  pos- 
sibilities, it  should  throw  some  light  on  social  problems, 
if  only  a  candle  gleam,  and  should  work  forward  toward 
the  time  when  it  may  illumine  the  path  of  social  progress 
by  its  telic  policies  and  by  its  scientific  forecasts  of  social 
movements.  It  cannot  probably  for  many  centuries  show 
in  detail  the  program  that  society  must  follow,  or  work 
out,  as  in  the  astronomer's  almanac,  exact  statements  in 
respect  to  social  phenomena ;  but  it  should  soon  be  able  to 
show  the  significance  and  probable  consequence  of  any 


THE  ELIMINATION  OF  SOCIAL  EVILS  377 

important  social  achievement,  and  to  suggest  in  outline 
the  principles  that  should  be  followed  in  order  to  elimi- 
nate an  evil  or  to  build  up  a  good.  For  there  are  certain 
conclusions  from  sociological  principles  that  may  well 
serve  as  guide  posts  as  to  the  probable  direction  in  which 
attention  should  be  turned,  in  order  to  understand  the 
significance  of  social  events.  After  all,  a  mere  knowl- 
edge of  the  facts  of  history  is  unimportant,  unless  one  is 
able  to  see  the  law  of  causation  underlying  them  and  to 
learn  wiser  policies  from  its  teachings.  In  illustration  of 
this  point  may  be  cited  well-known  events  in  the  racial 
and  economic  development  of  the  United  States,  from 
which  the  contrast  between  a  telic  policy  and  one  that 
grows  geneticly  is  evident. 

Early  Conditions  in  the  United  States. — As  far  as 
racial  and  economic  conditions  were  concerned  these  were 
from  the  start  unquestionably  favorable  for  the  develop- 
ment of  a  high  civiHzation.  The  colonies  started  their  na- 
tional career  with  a  population  made  up  of  members  of 
a  dominant  fighting  race,  in  possession  of  a  wide  and  fer- 
tile territory  of  temperate  climate,  rich  in  fuels  and  min- 
erals, and  environed  by  no  really  dangerous  neighbors. 
Traditions  of  civil  and  religious  freedom  and  a  touching 
confidence  in  the  efficacy  of  education  as  a  social  panacea 
were  prevalent.  Through  war,  exploitation,  and  pur- 
chase, the  national  boundaries  were  enlarged  from  sea 
to  sea,  and  generous  provision  was  made  by  land  grants 
for  common  school  education.  More  than  that,  govern- 
ment stimulated  invention  by  wise  patent  laws,  encour- 
aged manufacturers  by  a  tariff  policy,  made  internal  com- 
merce free,  aided  the  development  of  transportation  fa- 
cilities by  land  grants  and  state  subsidies,  and  stimulated 
agriculture  by  a  land  and  homestead  policy.    Under  such 


378  SOCIOLOGY 

conditions  and  with  so  wise  a  telic  policy  progress  was 
natural,  aided  as  it  was  by  the  growth  of  general  intelli- 
gence and  democratic  forms  of  government. 

Lack  of  Social  Forethought. — But  there  is  a  gene- 
tic aspect  also  in  our  development,  when  forethought  was 
lacking.  We  failed  to  understand  the  profound  social 
changes  involved  in  the  utilization  of  steam  and  electricity 
as  power,  and  in  the  enormous  productive  capacity  of 
new  machinery.  When  Lancashire  cotton  mills  using 
steam,  for  example,  began  to  demand  cotton  in  ever-in- 
creasing quantity,  the  South,  with  its  soil  suited  for  cot- 
ton, and  the  cotton-gin  supplied  by  Eli  Whitney,  lacked 
only  labor  to  satisfy  the  demand.  Then  if  ever  a  fore- 
sighted  policy  was  needed  so  as  to  induce  the  immigra- 
tion of  European  agricultural  laborers,  and  to  stimulate 
the  invention  of  improved  machinery  suited  for  the  plan- 
tation. A  telic  policy  failing,  the  path  of  least  resistance 
lay  in  the  direction  of  the  illegal  importation  of  slaves 
and  in  the  systematic  breeding  of  a  negro  stock.  The 
rigidity  of  a  constitution,  amended  with  too  great  diffi- 
culty, prevented  a  legislative  remedy,  and  in  consequence 
there  came  a  century  of  strife,  a  civil  war,  and  a  permanent 
negro  problem.  Racially  speaking,  the  country  lost  a 
million  of  its  white  males  by  war  and  disease,  reduced 
correspondingly  the  proportion  of  its  native  stock,  and 
has  one-tenth  of  its  population  made  up  of  a  race  that, 
however  capable  it  may  prove  itself,  cannot  be  absorbed 
by  amalgamation  without  serious  danger  to  racial  vigor. 

The  Problem  of  Immigration. — A  similar  illustra- 
tion may  be  found  in  respect  to  immigration.  As  long 
as  land  was  abundant  and  immigrants  were  Celtic  or  Teu- 
tonic, there  was  the  wise  telic  policy  of  an  open  door  and 
easy  naturalization.    When  an  influx  of  immigration  from 


THE  ELIMINATION  OF  SOCIAL  EVILS         379 

the  Orient  threatened,  it  was  barred  out  because  of  its 
lower  standards  of  living  and  the  apparent  impossibility 
of  assimilation.  But  foresight  failed  when  there  came 
a  demand  for  unskilled  labor  to  be  massed  at  industrial 
centers.  Slight  attempts  only  were  made  to  regulate  the 
number  and  quality  of  immigrants,  or  to  provide  suit- 
able agencies  for  their  speedy  absorption  into  American 
civilization.  The  burden  of  this  was  thrown  on  the  public 
schools,  which  failed  for  the  most  part  to  meet  the  demand, 
since  they  supplied  merely  rudimentary  knowledge  to  the 
children  and  rarely  any  training  for  adults.  Then,  too, 
by  mingling  the  races  in  the  schools  the  cultural  stand- 
ards of  the  native  stock  were  somewhat  lowered.  This 
influx  of  alien  population  of  inferior  civilization  has 
had  its  usual  consequences :  there  is  an  unskilled  pro- 
letariat, wretchedly  housed  and  environed,  resulting  in 
misery,  vice,  and  crime;  a  stratum  of  native  stock  de- 
feated in  competition  because  of  their  competitor's  lower 
standards  of  living,  and  depressed  in  general  morals; 
another  stratum  of  native  stock  committing  race  suicide, 
so  as  to  maintain  high  social  standards ;  and  a  middle  class 
recruited  from  the  most  energetic  of  the  alien  stock  and 
intermarrying.  Fortunately  the  evils  of  this  situation  are 
not  necessarily  permanent.  A  telic  policy  may  strengthen 
regulations  in  respect  to  the  admission  and  naturalization 
of  immigrants ;  may  scatter  them  more  widely  over  the 
country,  so  as  to  avoid  overcrowding  and  excessive  com- 
petition ;  may  develop  special  agencies,  so  as  to  hasten  the 
process  of  Americanization ;  and  by  better  education  may 
push  the  younger  generation,  at  least,  out  of  the  unskilled 
into  skilled  occupations.^     Racial  amalgamation  between 

*  See  Race  Improvement  in  the  United  States,  Annals,  July,  1909, 
Philadelphia. 


38o  SOCIOLOGY 

these  races  and  the  native  stock  is  inevitable  after  a  few 
generations,  and  the  future  American  will  have  in  his 
veins  a  strong  infusion  of  Romance  and  Slavic  blood,  add- 
ing thereby  imaginative  qualities  to  the  somewhat  prosaic 
Anglo-Saxon  mind. 

Economic  Problems. — In  the  economic  world  had 
the  natural  influence  of  scientific  knowledge  on  invention 
in  respect  to  production,  transportation,  and  labor,  been 
foreseen,  society  might  by  telicly  devised  regulations  at 
the  beginnings  of  these  economic  movements,  have  avoided 
the  evils  of  monopolistic  tendencies,  wild  speculation  in 
necessities,  and  the  multiplication  of  an  unskilled  prole- 
tariat of  industrial  workers.  The  development  of  cor- 
porations, syndicates,  and  trusts,  is  another  illustration 
of  a  genetic  growth  hardly  retarded  by  telic  foresight, 
which  so  far  has  failed  to  regulate  what,  like  the  bottled 
jinn  of  the  Arabian  Nights,  was  easily  controllable  in  its 
beginnings,  but  now  has  become  giant-like  in  its  propor- 
tions. Here  again  a  static  constitution  in  a  dynamic  age 
has  proved  a  serious  impediment  to  a  proper  system  of 
regulation.  So  likewise  the  movement  of  population  to- 
ward the  city  might  have  been  studied  in  its  earlier  stages 
and  wiser  provisions  devised  for  the  government  of  mu- 
nicipalities and  their  problems  of  housing  and  health, 
so  as  to  avoid  the  crime,  vice,  and  pauperism  so  largely 
due  to  civic  ignorance.  Unquestionably,  also,  the  failure 
of  cities  to  take  into  account  the  growing  demand  for 
breathing  spaces,  parks,  and  playgrounds,  and  a  scientifi- 
cally planned  system  of  streets,  is  already  increasing  the 
burden  of  taxation.  Here  again  forethought  when  land 
was  cheap  would  have  saved  much  later  expense. 

The  Problem  of  Education. — Even  our  system  of 
general  education,  which  came  as  the  result  of  telic  policy, 


THE  ELIMINATION  OF  SOCIAL  EVILS         381 

might  have  been  vastly  improved,  with  untold  benefits  to 
civilization,  had  educational  systems  kept  pace  with  edu- 
cational knowledge.  Nearly  all  of  our  great  educational 
theories  were  devised  before  1850,  and  throughout  the 
Nineteenth  Century  many  model  schemes  of  wiser  educa- 
tion were  experimented  on,  from  that  of  Robert  Owen 
at  New  Lanark  to  the  Armour  Institute  of  Technology  at 
Chicago.  Education  has  not  yet  met  the  expectation  of 
early  enthusiasm  because  of  the  incompetence  of  school 
boards,  and  because  of  excessive  conservatism  in  admin- 
istrative systems,  and  the  inadequate  training  of  teachers. 
Yet  the  times  are  working  towards  a  larger  education  that 
will  advance  our  civilization  far  beyond  its  present  at- 
tainment and  society  is  demanding  that  the  people  gen- 
erally be  more  thoroughly  instructed,  that  they  may  be 
able  to  utilize  the  latest  discoveries  of  science. 

Need  of  a  Telic  Policy. — It  is  needless  to  multiply 
illustrations  of  this  sort ;  every  well-informed  person  can 
readily  contrast  for  himself  the  economy  of  a  telic  policy, 
and  the  waste  of  genetic  activity.-  There  are,  however, 
certain  sociological  teachings  which,  rightly  understood 
and  applied,  may  aid  society  in  the  formation  of  a  telic 
policy  looking  toward  the  elimination  of  social  defects. 
At  least  the  statement  of  these  teachings  may  suggest  the 
general  direction  in  which  society  must  look,  if  it  would 
lighten  its  present  heavy  burden  of  taxation  and  misery. 

Social  Hopefulness. — It  is  obvious,  for  instance, 
that  1  courageous  optimism  is  one  of  the  most  essential 
qualifications  for  sociological  usefulness.  Pessimism  and 
fatalism  are  deadly  sins,  and  find  no  justification  in  pres- 
ent social  conditions.    Fatalism  is  the  attitude  of  the  sav- 

*  The  many  social  surveys  of  recent  years  in  their  statements  of 
conditions  well  illustrate  a  genetic  growth,  and  in  the  suggestions 
of  experts,  a  telic  policy. 


382  SOCIOLOGY 

age,  the  creature  of  an  environment  he  can  neither  under- 
stand nor  control.  Pessimism  characterizes  those  who  un- 
derstand conditions  only,  but  do  not  know  remedies. 
Education  gives  one  the  power  both  to  comprehend  and  to 
utilize  his  environment  sufficiently  to  see  the  possibilities 
of  future  achievement.  Even  though  social  conditions 
are  bad  enough  at  present,  they  have  been  much  worse, 
and  to-day  the  means  of  improvement  are  at  hand.  In 
place  of  despair  and  apathy  sociology  urges  hopefulness 
and  energy  because  the  forward  movement  of  civilization 
is  working  toward  improvement  and  human  happiness. 
For  this  reason  it  is  idle  to  mourn  over  past  errors  and 
present  deficiencies.  Progress  is  best  made  by  forget- 
ting the  past  and  turning  resolutely  toward  improvement. 
One  can  dwell  on  the  sins  and  suffering  of  society  until 
he  becomes  morbid,  but  he  might  better  trace  the  re- 
markable development  of  humanity  from  the  brute  to  the 
man,  and  comprehend  the  processes  through  which  he 
may  free  himself  more  fully  from  the  bondage  of  ham- 
pering conditions.  The  first  essential,  therefore,  is  to 
look  at  society  with  hopeful  insight,  so  as  to  see  the  germ 
of  better  things  unfolding  into  a  happier  civilization. 

Control  of  Social  Energy. — It  is  also  essential  to 
think  of  social  energy  quite  as  the  engineer  may  consider 
the  power  in  his  engine.  Understood  and  guided,  it  per- 
forms useful  work.  Uncontrolled  or  ignorantly  guided, 
it  may  do  untold  damage.  Society  has  inherited  from 
earlier  centuries  a  notion  that  human  passions  and  de- 
sires, which  unitedly  make  up  social  energy,  are  essentially 
evil.  The  truer  view  is  that  they  are  inherently  neither 
good  nor  bad,  but  under  proper  conditions  tend  toward 
goodness  since  they  lead  men  on  to  activity  and  achieve- 
ment.   A  socially  wise  policy,  the  policy  of  indirection,  is 


THE  ELIMINATION  OF  SOCIAL  EVILS  383 

not  to  suppress  or  weaken  these  powerful  human  forces, 
but  to  study  how  best  to  strengthen  and  guide  them  into 
useful  directions.  Social  control  scientifically  applied,  and 
general  intelligence  through  right  education,  would  rid 
society  of  much  of  the  enormous  waste  of  social  energy, 
now  perverted  into  anti-social  directions  or  latent  because 
of  lack  of  proper  opportunity.  Social  forces  implicit  in 
men's  desires  and  ambitions,  should  be  studied  as  carefully 
as  the  physicist  studies  electricity;  and  social  Edisons 
must  show  how  society  may  utilize  these  forces  for  con- 
structive activity. 

Elimination  of  the  Tabu. — Such  a  policy  necessi- 
tates the  disappearance  of  tabu  civilization,  and  a  move- 
ment toward  higher  planes  of  social  life  indicated  by  reg- 
ulative and  constructive  stages  of  social  activity.  In  low 
civiHzation  life  is  made  up  of  fear  and  misery,  relieved 
by  occasional  moments  of  physical  pleasure.  As  man 
advances  in  civilization  his  nervous  system  develops,  be- 
comes finer  and  more  acute,  until  we  have  nature's  crown- 
ing achievement,  the  human  brain.  But  the  finer  the 
nervous  system  the  greater  is  the  possibility  of  pain,  so 
that  a  highly  developed  human  being,  through  his  vivid 
imagination,  may  suffer  physically  and  mentally  far  more 
acutely  than  a  savage.  On  the  other  hand,  his  capacity 
for  enjoyment  is  correspondingly  increased,  and  the  hap- 
piness which  arises  from  the  satisfaction  of  cultural  or 
psychical  desires,  becomes  a  permanent  possession  through 
the  memory.  A  highly  developed  person,  too,  through 
scientific  knowledge  knows  how  to  avoid  many  pains  and 
how  to  enlarge  the  scope  of  his  happiness  by  social  and 
cultural  enjoyment,  permanent  and  elevating  in  its  na- 
ture. In  consequence  mankind  is  slowly  passing  from  an 
age  of  pain  into  an  age  of  happiness.    Man  is,  in  a  word, 


384  SOCIOLOGY 

progressing  from  a  system  of  social  prohibitions  to  a 
system  of  inducements  to  activity  and  of  suggestions  of- 
fered to  the  capable  as  to  the  best  methods  of  attaining 
ambitions.  In  place  of  forced  labor  and  compulsory  edu- 
cation will  some  day  come  a  love  of  exertion  and  a  joy 
in  adding  to  one's  knowledge.  The  criterion  of  increas- 
ing happiness  and  freedom  is  a  real  test  of  civilization, 
enabling  one  to  decide  whether  a  suggested  policy  is  in 
the  line  of  progress  or  is  a  return  to  the  inferior  methods 
of  a  pain  economy. 

Civilization  is  Constructive. — Again,  civilization 
strengthens,  rather  than  weakens  man's  physical  and 
psychical  nature.  One  often  hears  that  civilization  de- 
velops a  type  of  man  aged  at  forty  and  a  nervous  wreck 
at  fifty.  This,  of  course,  is  not  true  civilization,  but  a 
civilization  in  which  social  energy  has  been  highly  stimu- 
lated without  being  regulated  by  scientific  knowledge, 
nor  directed  into  the  most  useful  channels  by  right  edu- 
cation. Energy  is  too  often  centered  on  a  single  line 
of  activity  and  needs  to  be  switched  off  into  many-sided 
interests.  High  civilization  should  be  the  human  aspect 
of  the  principle  of  the  survival  of  the  fit.  Social  environ- 
ment should  be  so  adjusted  that  those  who  best  adapt 
themselves  to  it  and  survive  will  be  the  best  types  of 
humanity.  In  piracy  he  who  can  rob  most  successfully 
and  murder  with  the  least  compunction  is  suited  to  the 
environment  and  survives  as  leader.  In  a  vicious  slum 
the  thief,  the  tough,  and  the  harlot  are  fittest  to  survive  un- 
der the  conditions,  and  the  moral  man  or  woman  is  unfit. 
In  the  field  of  highly  competitive,  poorly  paid  labor  he 
who  can  toil  longest  and  hardest  for  the  least  wage  sur- 
vives. Yet  in  no  one  of  these  three  cases  of  survival  is 
humanity  exalted.     Society  must  itself  develop   for  its 


THE  ELIMINATION  OF  SOCIAL  EVILS         385 

citizens  an  environment  that  will  call  out  the  strongest 
and  best  in  them  and  that  will  slowly  eliminate  weakness 
of  all  sorts,  and  incapacity  for  high  civilization.  Thus, 
the  wisdom  of  a  social  policy  may  also  be  tested  by  noting 
whether  a  suggested  reform  would  tend  to  build  up  or 
destroy  physical  and  cultural  capacity.  Nature  elimi- 
nates by  savage  extermination  and  endless  suffering. 
Social  elimination,  as  it  becomes  perfect,  will  be  accom- 
plished by  making  the  weak  strong.  It  will  take  pre- 
cautions that  there  be  no  needless  multiplication  of  the 
weak,  and  see  to  it  that  the  strong  are  not  weakened  by 
conditions  of  environment.  Since  high  civilization  de- 
pends on  strong  individualities  for  its  continuance,  its 
conscious  aim  is  always  to  build  up  in  the  weak,  if  pos- 
sible, strong  bodies  and  powerful  minds.  Whatever, 
therefore,  weakens  in  our  present  civilization  is  socially 
evil,  since  social  goodness  implies  social  capacity  and 
strength. 

Social  Leadership. — It  thus  becomes  evident  that 
sociology  resists  a  teaching  which  fixes  attention  on  the 
individual  to  the  exclusion  of  his  environment.  The 
corresponding  error  in  concentrating  attention  on  the  en- 
vironment to  the  neglect  of  the  individual  is  a  far  safer 
blunder.  Attention  given  to  individuals  to  the  neglect  of 
environment  may  result  in  the  saving  of  the  elect,  but  in 
the  damnation  of  the  many.  Emphasis  on  improvement 
of  social  environment  will  result  in  raising  the  mass,  at 
the  expense  of  the  exaltation  of  the  predatory  few.  But 
sociology  would  emphasize  as  a  social  fundamental  that 
environment  which  would  call  to  the  front  its  best  citizens 
and  stimulate  them  by  placing  in  their  hands  opportuni- 
ties for  social  service.  The  process  of  socialization  is 
difficult  and  contrary  to  crude  human  nature.     Society 


386  SOCIOLOGY 

must  build  up  through  social  control  and  education  a  type 
of  mind  that  will  become  individualistic  through  social 
service.  He  who  would  rule  must  first  obey;  whoever 
aspires  to  leadership  must  first  learn  to  serve.  Social 
leadership  must  be  based  on  a  comprehension  of  social 
needs  and  a  willingness  to  serve  them.  Men  become  so- 
cialized as  they  cease  to  war  against  society,  or  to  fight  for 
a  narrow  interest  as  against  a  greater,  and  as  they  acquire 
a  keener  insight  into  the  essential  harmony  of  personal 
and  social  interests. 

Elimination  of  Social  Weakness.— Sociology,  in  look- 
ing forward  hopefully  to  the  gradual  elimination  of  social 
degeneracy,  is  conscious  that  no  immediate  solution  of 
the  problem  is  possible,  even  while  it  insists  on  the  actual 
initiation  of  a  telic  policy  for  that  end  in  social  activity. 
Skill  comes  through  practice,  and  society  should  use  what 
knowledge  it  already  has,  learning  to  improve  it  by  later 
experience  and  reflection.  The  essential  thing  is  that  so- 
ciety should  become  confident  of  ultimate  success.  Re- 
ligion teaches  of  a  good  time  coming  when  justice  and 
peace  shall  prevail;  Utopians  have  regularly  assumed  the 
banishment  of  social  evils  from  their  ideal  common- 
wealths ;  but  science  is  now  cooperating  with  social  phi- 
losophers in  perfecting  the  means  for  the  attainment  of 
such  ends.  Unfortunately  the  man  of  the  street  is  more 
inclined  to  assume  that  social  vice  and  evil  are  perma- 
nent phenomena,  the  price  of  existence  and  civilization. 
There  are  persons  who  would  extinguish  them  by  the 
radical  remedy  of  a  return  to  primitive  conditions.'  The 
simple  life  would  probably  cause  the  largest  part  of  so- 
cial degeneration  to  vanish,  but  human  nature  on  the 

'  Note,   for  example,  that  attractive  volume  of  Edward   Carpen- 
ter's, Civilhation,  Its  Cause  and  Cure. 


THE  ELIMINATION  OF  SOCIAL  EVILS         387 

whole  prefers  the  present  with  its  evils  to  the  Arcadian 
bliss  of  Rousseau's  state  of  nature.  Many  of  the  evils 
to  which  society  is  subject  are  really  due  to  social  prog- 
ress. Had  man  remained  a  savage  without  achievement, 
there  would  be  no  social  evils  of  which  to  complain.  There 
would  be  physical  pain,  but  man  would  neither  have 
the  wit  to  comprehend  his  own  wretchedness  nor  ca- 
pacity to  add  other  evils  than  nature's  to  his  portion. 
Social  evils  arise  because  the  intellect  of  man  enables 
him  to  pander  to  bodily  appetites  and  to  further  his 
selfish  interests.  Yet  the  remedy  should  be  sought  in 
greater  intelligence,  not  by  reversion  to  primitive  stu- 
pidity. The  evils  developed  by  an  imperfect  civiliza- 
tion should  disappear  with  greater  knowledge,  just  as 
the  physical  diseases  of  modern  life  will  vanish  with 
progress  in  biological  science. 

The  Unity  of  All  Social  Problems. — In  attempting 
in  the  following  pages,  to  illustrate  from  principles  so- 
ciologically justifiable,  the  methods  that  should  be  kept 
in  mind  in  all  agitation  for  social  reform,  it  becomes 
evident  at  a  glance  that  the  several  topics  discussed  are 
really  parts  of  one  great  question.  Under  our  present 
theories  the  class  that  under  natural  selection  should  have 
been  eliminated  as  the  "unfit,"  has  been  kept  in  existence 
through  social  philanthropic  agencies,  but  in  such 
wretched  conditions  as  to  make  the  "submerged  tenth" 
of  our  population  a  crying  disgrace  to  high  civilization. 
No  savage  race  probably  is  so  hopelessly  fallen  as  are  the 
degenerate  classes  of  Western  civilization.  In  addition  to 
these,  the  conditions  of  a  strenuous  competitive  system 
intensified  through  war  are  dragging  down  another  large 
per  cent  of  humanity,  and  these,  though  struggling  hard 
against  their  fate,  are  being  slowly  drawn  into  the  vortex 


388  SOCIOLOGY 

of  despair.  According  to  the  varying  conditions  of  hered- 
ity and  environment,  some  are  driven  into  crime,  and 
others  to  vice  or  pauperism.  Disease,  moral  degeneracy, 
and  sexual  depravity  surround  them  at  every  turn,  and 
Society  heaps  up  for  itself  an  increasing  mass  of  social 
misery  and  degeneracy,  against  the  time  when  a  social 
crisis  will  come,  and  another  "uprising  of  the  masses"  or 
"proletariat  struggle,"  with  its  bloodshed  and  "leveling 
down." 

Those  who  are  freed  from  the  bitterness  of  these  de- 
grading conditions,  vainly  imagine  that  the  evils  inherent 
in  the  system  can  be  atoned  for  by  charity  or  legislative 
fiat.  Like  the  ostrich  which  thinks  to  escape  its  pursuers 
by  hiding  its  head  in  the  sand,  society  imagines  that  it  has 
abolished  its  social  evils  by  forbidding  by  law  gambling, 
begging,  crime,  drunkenness,  and  prostitution.  No  sys- 
tem of  tabu  is  at  all  efficacious,  unless  followed  up  by 
extermination,  as  under  ancient  conditions,  or  on  the  other 
hand  by  the  methods  of  science  and  telic  foresight.  Ap- ' 
peals  to  reason  and  moral  suasion  are  powerful  influences 
for  those  who  have  leisure  to  think,  and  have  trained 
minds  and  emotions ;  but  before  they  can  be  used  with 
any  effectiveness  on  the  depressed  classes,  social  energy 
must  be  concentrated  on  the  problem  of  improving  the 
physical  and  economic  conditions  of  social  life  environ- 
ing our  poorest  paid  labor.  Teachings  in  churches  and 
schools  are  comparatively  useless,  except  as  they  supple- 
ment an  economic  uplift.  Individuals  here  and  there  may 
be  "plucked  as  brands  from  the  burning,"  but  they  are 
fezv  as  compared  to  the  many.  If  the  altruistic  and  civic 
agencies  of  society  would  band  together  for  a  common 
purpose,  working  toward  a  clearly  defined  goal,  using 
scientifically  approved  methods,  the  energy  and  wealth 


THE  ELIMINATION  OF  SOCIAL  EVILS         389 

new  expended  in  well-nigh  useless  directions  would  be 
concentrated  on  the  conditions  whence  most  of  our  social 
evils  arise,  and  would  slowly  but  surely  bring  about 
changes  that  would  reduce  to  a  minimum  the  handicaps 
of  modern  civilization.  Then  the  influence  of  ethical, 
educational,  and  cultural  institutions  of  all  sorts  would 
have  their  rightful  effect,  and  social  progress  would  bring 
happiness  and  hope  to  our  despairing  classes. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

EXPLOITATION  AND  IGNORANCE 

In  the  following  pages  a  short  survey  of  some  im- 
portant social  evils  will  be  given,  selecting  as  typical  such 
problems  as  exploitation,  ignorance,  poverty  and  pauper- 
ism, crime,  intemperance,  and  sexual  immorality.  Each 
of  these  will  briefly  be  discussed  and  attention  directed 
to  socially  approved  methods  looking  towards  the  lessen- 
ing of  these  evils. 

Exploitation 

Natural  Exploitation. — The  Darwinian  principle  of 
natural  selection  has  made  men  familiar  with  the  fact  that 
exploitation  is  a  universal  principle.  In  its  simple  mean- 
ing the  word  is  a  synonym  for  utilization,  but  in  its  more 
common  recent  meaning  it  implies  utilization  for  selfish 
or  illegitimate  purposes.  This  might  take  place  in  almost 
any  social  activity,  but  as  it  is  found  chiefly  in  economic 
life,  attention  will  be  devoted  chiefly  to  that  form  of  ex- 
ploitation. One  might  poetically  think  of  the  sun  or  the 
earth  as  exploiting  smaller  bodies  that  come  within  the 
circle  of  attraction;  or  of  a  plant  as  exploiting  the  soil 
and  the  air;  or  of  an  animal  as  exploiting  plants  or  other 
animals  as  food.  When  men  first  exploited  their  fellows 
in  cannibalism,  they  were  like  animals,  and  felt  no  moral 
turpitude  as  they  murdered  their  victims  and  consumed 
their  bodies  as  food.     Indeed,  when  cannibalism  came 

390 


EXPLOITATION  AND  IGNORANCE  391 

within  the  realm  of  morals,  it  was  as  a  commendable 
act  involving  additional  social  prestige.  Yet  as  social- 
ization developed,  cannibalism  became  evil,  so  that  men 
to-day  shudder  at  the  very  thought  of  using  a  human 
body  as  food.  In  the  same  way  piracy,  highway  rob- 
bery, and  slaveholding,  the  other  historic  forms  of  human 
exploitation,  have  ceased  to  be  honorable  occupations. 
Slave-hunting  was  a  socially  approved  occupation  in 
advanced  civilization  almost  to  the  Nineteenth  Century, 
and  slaveholding  was  the  mark  of  aristocracy  in  the  South 
down  to  the  Civil  War.  It  is  a  question  whether  even 
yet  the  human  conscience  is  really  opposed  to  slavery  it- 
self, and  not  rather  to  certain  aspects  of  it,  as,  for  exam- 
ple, the  market,  the  auction  block,  and  the  compulsory 
dissolution  of  family  ties.  Still  no  one  doubts  that  this 
form  of  exploitation  and  its  half  sisters,  serfdom  and 
peonage,  are  destined  to  disappear  before  the  developing 
humanitarianism  of  the  age. 

Exploitation  of  Man. — In  passing  from  cannibalism 
to  slavery  and  to  serfdom  and  peonage,  the  movement  was 
from  an  exploitation  for  food  purposes  to  exploitation  for 
economic  profit.  The  real  question  involved  was  whether 
on  the  whole  slavery  was  more  profitable  than  cannibal- 
ism. Since  by  that  time  domesticated  animals  supplied 
needed  flesh  foods,  slave  labor  seemed  more  valuable  than 
the  food  value  of  their  war  captives,  just  as  in  later  cen- 
turies slave  labor  proved  in  comparison  to  be  not  so  val- 
uable as  free  labor  motivated  by  self-interest.  Thus, 
the  movement  from  slavery  to  emancipation  the  world 
over  is  economic  as  well  as  sentimental.  One  may  feel 
fairly  sure  that  slavery  would  not  have  become  serfdom 
or  peonage,  nor  would  this  have  developed  into  a  wage 
system,  unless  society  as  a  whole,  in  Europe  and  in  the 


392  SOCIOLOGY 

Americas,  had  found  it  economically  worth  while  to 
make  the  change.  Slavery  would  in  any  case  have  disap- 
peared from  the  South  in  time  had  it  not  been  forced 
out  by  war,  just  as  serfdom  died  out  in  Europe  and 
slavery  has  passed  into  peonage  in  many  parts  of  Latin 
America. 

Exploitation  of  the  Masses. — If  this  be  admitted, 
it  is  evident  that  even  when  the  wage  system  with  nomi- 
nal freedom  superseded  the  other  forms  of  economic  serv- 
itude, the  spirit  of  exploitation  remained  unchanged,  but 
manifested  itself  through  slightly  different  machinery. 
The  reason  for  this  is  clear :  exploitation  of  one's  fellows 
is  a  natural  process.  All  nature  exploits,  as  already  ex- 
plained; natural  selection  and  genetic  human  history  are 
one  long  series  of  exploitations.  When  the  leisure  class 
made  up  of  nobility  and  professional  classes  developed, 
its  members  naturally  assumed  that  they  were  to  be  sup- 
ported by  the  masses,  just  as  in  Plato's  Republic  he  as- 
sumes as  a  matter  of  course  that  the  intelligent  citizens 
are  to  be  supported  by  the  rest  of  the  population,  arguing, 
as  did  Aristotle^  when  he  classified  slaves  among  farm 
implements  along  with  cattle,  and  declared  that  mechan- 
ics and  tradesmen  are  incapable  of  virtue,  since  they  lack 
understanding.  As  long  as  one  class  of  people  is  con- 
vinced that  it  is  superior  to  another  through  birth,  or 
through  the  possession  of  wealth  or  intelligence,  the  nat- 
ural tendency  is  towards  exploitation  of  their  supposed 
inferiors.  Under  natural  conditions  the  stronger  will 
prey  on  the  weaker,  taking,  whenever  profit  is  at  stake, 
all  possible  advantage  of  weakness.  This  is  natural  law 
and  natural  tendency,  and  from  the  standpoint  of  genetic 
development  it  is  right,  since  force  makes  right.  Hence 
*  In  his  Politics. 


EXPLOITATION  AND  IGNORANCE  393 

in  any  system  of  natural  ethics  one  cannot  but  agree  with 
the  individuaHst  in  favor  of  a  dominant  race,  a  great 
state,  a  superior  class,  a  superman.  Might  is  right,  and 
the  god  of  nature  is  regularly  on  the  side  of  the  heaviest 
cannon.  The  sword  of  Brennus  determines  the  amount 
of  ransom,  and  Bismarck's,  "greatest  possible  weight  of 
blood  and  iron,"  and  the  "might  which  antedates  right," 
agree  with  Machiavelli  in  proclaiming  the  true  basis  of 
the  moral  law  of  nature. 

Restraints  on  Exploitation. — Yet  the  thoughtful 
part  of  mankind  has  never  rested  satisfied  with  a  system 
of  exploitation.  First  kinship  softened  its  harshness  by 
inculcating  sympathy  within  the  kin;  then  Stoicism  came 
with  its  teachings  of  an  eternal  justice  and  a  world  hu- 
manity, while  Buddhism  in  the  East,  and  Christianity  in 
the  West,  advocated  an  ideal  of  human  brotherhood.  On 
these  foundations  society  has,  in  opposition  to  natural 
morals,  adopted  a  telic  ethical  poHcy,^  and  demands  that 
men  base  their  dealings  on  humanitarian  principles;  and 
religion  goes  even  farther  by  insisting  that  special  assist- 
ance be  given  to  the  weaker  members  of  society.  Un- 
fortunately, in  practice  this  ideal  is  far  from  realization. 
The  principle  of  humanitarianism  is  contrary  to  the  nat- 
ural disposition  of  man.  Society  by  moral  injunction 
and  by  law  seeks  to  enforce  its  standards,  but  has  failed  to 
educate  the  average  man  to  respect  them.  Hence  the  nat- 
ural man,  relying  on  his. power  of  wealth  or  position, 
calmly  ignores  or  evades  the  law,  complying,  perhaps, 
with  the  letter  of  it  while  violating  its  spirit.  This  is 
shown  in  "high  finance,"  in  the  relations  of  capital  and 
labor,  in  the  moral  standards  of  buying  and  selling,  in 

*Kidd's  Social  Evolution,  which  identifies  religion  with  altruism, 
makes  the  antithesis  between  the  egoism  of  reason  and  the  altruism 
of  religion. 


394  SOCIOLOGY 

war  profiteering  and  governmental  contracts,  in  the  re- 
lations of  skilled  and  union  labor  to  unskilled  and  non- 
union labor,  in  the  attitude  of  the  corrupt  politician  to 
the  public,  and  generally  in  a  system  that  permits  the 
burden  and  misery  of  society  to  fall  to  the  lot  of  those 
least  able  to  shift  it  to  others. 

Ignorance  Responsible  for  Exploitation. — Such 
abuses  are  inevitable  as  long  as  there  is  ignorance  of  so- 
cial conditions  and  a  general  apathy  in  respect  to  social 
aims.  Nothing  under  present  conditions  but  broader  edu- 
cation will  bring  about  the  desired  change.  It  is  no  easy 
task  to  transform  men's  natures.  Religion  alone  cannot 
do  it,  nor  a  legal  system  unsupported  by  public  opinion. 
The  Marxian  remedy  of  class  struggle  would  not  prove 
satisfactory,  for  if  the  lower  should  conquer  the  higher, 
the  latter  would  be  exploited  by  the  former,  as  in  Rus- 
sia. Although  at  present  class  struggle  seems  to  be  in- 
evitable, wiser  education  would  soften  its  bitterness  and 
place  it  on  the  higher  plane  of  arbitration  and  compro- 
mise. 

Again,  our  legal  system  with  its  procedure  is  "fear- 
fully and  wonderfully  made,"  and  will  be  simplified  if 
ever  lawyers  become  jurists,  and  legislators,  statesmen. 
Meanwhile  racial  experience  shows  that  when  education 
enables  men  to  comprehend  the  meaning  of  their  desires, 
society  will  proceed  to  eliminate  exploitation  according  to 
the  three  usual  stages  of  action  exemplified  in  statute 
books :  first,  the  meaner  forms  of  exploitation,  for  exam- 
ple, cheating  and  swindling,  gambling  and  "wild  cat" 
speculation,  should  be  sternly  repressed  through  laws 
requiring  speedy  trials  and  punishment,  so  as  to  eliminate 
from  the  modern  economic  world  persons  whose  morals 
belong  too  far  back  in  civilization  to  entitle  them  to  a 


EXPLOITATION  AND  IGNORANCE  395 

place  in  modem  transactions.  Secondly,  persons  of  aver- 
age morality,  who  in  business  dealings  incline  in  either 
an  honorable  or  dishonorable  direction  according  to  sug- 
gestion and  environment,  should  be  carefully  regulated 
by  law,  and  stimulated  by  public  opinion  to  conduct  their 
economic  activities  in  harmony  with  moral  standards. 
And  thirdly,  the  real  emphasis  should  as  rapidly  as  possi- 
ble be  placed  on  the  sociological  principle  that  men  must 
be  led  by  their  own  interests  to  conform  to  high  stand- 
ards of  honor.  This  involves  a  broadly  intelligent  public 
opinion  determining  moral  standards  and  generously  giv- 
ing its  approval  to  those  who  prefer  honor  to  illegitimate 
profit.  There  are  many  commercial  firms,  for  example, 
whose  best  asset  is  the  confidence  the  public  have  in  their 
integrity  and  in  the  quality  and  worth  of  their  manufac- 
tured products. 

The  State  as  an  Exploiter. — The  state  itself,  un- 
fortunately, is  an  agency  in  the  furtherance  of  exploita- 
tion since  it  retains  so  many  vestiges  of  the  times  when 
government  was  under  class  control  and  was  employed 
in  exploiting  the  masses  for  the  sake  of  the  classes.  There 
is  great  need,  for  example,  of  a  thorough  readjustment 
of  its  system  of  taxation,  which  under  present  conditions 
is  an  excellent  illustration  of  the  exploitation  of  small 
owners  under  the  form  of  law;  of  a  vigorous  reorgani- 
zation of  both  its  civil  and  its  criminal  law,  each  of  which 
at  present  allows  great  scope  for  exploitation;  and  of  a 
revision  of  its  system  of  public  education,  which  sends 
forth  into  economic  life  four-fifths  of  its  toilers  so  poorly 
trained  that  they  easily  become  fit  subjects  for  exploita- 
tion because  of  ignorance.  If  these  three  fundamental  de- 
partments were  revised  by  the  state  in  the  interests  of  the 
public,  other  improvements,  now  held  back  in  their  devel- 


396  SOCIOLOGY 

opment,  would  much  sooner  become  vigorous  and  domi- 
nant. 

Social  Parasitism. — The  present  tendency  is  to  re- 
gard parasitism  in  all  of  its  forms  as  socially  wrong. 
Men  are  born  to  labor,  and  neither  man  nor  woman  should 
assume  that  he  or  she  is  by  right  of  birth  or  inheritance 
free  from  social  obligation.  "If  any  will  not  work, 
neither  let  him  eat,"  ^  is  a  social  principle  that  is  becoming 
a  democratic  ideal.  When  the  sons  of  the  wealthy  begin 
to  don  overalls,  and  their  daughters  to  prepare  for  use- 
ful vocations,  it  will  need  no  prophet  to  foresee  the  time 
when  parasitism  will  become  unpopular  and  labor  honor- 
able. 

Common  Interests  in  the  Industries. — In  this  same 
spirit  is  the  modern  movement  to  arouse  the  employees' 
interest  in  their  work,  so  as  to  substitute  the  joy  in  work 
and  product,  for  which  William  Morris  stood,  for  a  me- 
chanical and  clock-watching  slavery  or  a  desire  to  "beat" 
the  employer  by  restricted  output,  unnecessary  wastage, 
and  sabotage.  On  the  other  hand  should  be  noted  the 
reciprocal  acknowledgments  of  employers  that  employees 
are  not  merely  hands,  but  heads  and  hearts  besides,  vitally 
interested  in  the  business,  whose  special  interests  should 
be  consulted  as  a  matter  of  self-interest.  Finally  should 
be  observed  the  present  leanings  toward  another  ideal  of 
economic  organization,  in  which  sharp  distinctions  be- 
tween master  and  man  will  disappear,  as  both  see  them- 
selves laboring  for  common  ends  and  joint  interests,  and 
mutual  trust  succeeds  suspicion  and  exploitation.  There 
are  already  in  the  economic  world  many  illustrations  of 
such  relationships,  where  employers  consider  themselves 

as  trustees  and  employees  work  "on  honor,"  and  both  are 

,_, — _ — . — ^ — ii 

'II.     Thessalonians  III,  lo,  revised  version. 


EXPLOITATION  AND  IGNORANCE  397 

kept  keyed  by  the  tone  of  public  opinion  in  the  shop  and 
the  office.* 

It  is  no  easy  task  to  prevent  men  from  exploiting  their 
fellows,  and  should  the  time  ever  come  when  through 
telic  policy  stronger  men  recognize  their  kinship  and  fos- 
ter their  weaker  brothers,  society  may  well  claim  that  as 
its  crowning  achievement.  In  that  happier  time  men  will 
still  exploit,  but  the  word  will  have  lost  its  secondary 
meaning,  and  will  resume  its  older  definition  of  utiliza- 
tion ;  nature  and  human  capacity  will  be  exploited  by  man 
to  build  up  the  larger  interests  of  humanity. 

Ignorance 

Ignorance  in  Ancient  Times. — In  the  beginnings  of 
civilization  there  were  practically  no  ignorant  persons  in 
the  community.  The  inevitable  differences  in  individual 
amounts  of  knowledge  were  slight,  as  the  little  knowledge 
existent  was  simple,  comprehensible,  and  open  to  all.  But 
as  the  total  amount  of  knowledge  increased,  as  skill  in  the 
arts  developed,  and  men  began  to  speculate  about  the 
gods  and  nature  and  its  manifestations  of  energy,  it 
became  less  and  less  possible  for  one  person  to  master  the 
knowledge  unitedly  held  by  the  members  of  society,  so 
that  each  individual  acquired  merely  that  part  of  it  needed 
for  his  special  purposes.  When  speculative  knowledge 
became  important  through  the  growth  of  a  leisure  class 
in  part  devoted  to  reflection,  this  knowledge  became  pro- 
fessional and  was  the  privilege  of  the  few.  Naturally, 
therefore,  as  knowledge  increased,  it  passed  into  the  pos- 

*  For  a  careful  study  of  movements  looking  toward  "industrial 
betterment,"  see  Wm.  H.  Tolman's  Social  Engineering,  "A  record 
of  things  done  by  American  Industrialists  employing  upward  of 
one  and  one-half  million  people." 


398  SOCIOLOGY 

session  of  specialized  industries  and  professions,  and  each 
person  acquired  for  himself  only  what  he  needed  for  use. 
In  addition  to  this  each  person  acquired  some  general 
knowledge  from  his  social  environment,  varying  in 
amount  according  to  his  mental  capacity  and  his  economic 
status. 

In  later  centuries  this  general  knowledge,  definitely  im- 
parted as  cultural  information,  makes  up  a  large  part  of 
education.  For,  as  democracy  gains  ground,  it  is  deemed 
essential  that  each  person  be  trained  in  civic  knowledge, 
in  order  that  he  may  become  a  more  useful  citizen.  As 
theories  of  self-development  gain  foothold  within  society, 
a  person  may  be  given  increasingly  greater  educational  op- 
portunities in  order  that  he  may  telicly  build  up  his  body 
and  mind,  and  acquire  a  deeper  insight  into  human  prob- 
lems. Every  normal  person,  therefore,  in  a  well-organ- 
ized society,  will  obtain  knowledge  of  his  business,  some 
knowledge  for  general  social  and  civic  purposes,  and 
perhaps  some  also  for  purposes  of  mental  enlargement. 

Ignorance  a  Social  Handicap. — Now  in  static  civili- 
zation with  its  fixed  institutions  and  occupations,  the  aver- 
age person  acquires  the  knowledge  needed  for  his  sphere 
of  life,  and  technically  is  well  informed  even  though  he 
may  not  have  the  general  knowledge  possessed  by  the  com- 
munity. In  this  sense  one  may  speak  of  a  laborer,  a  me- 
chanic, a  farmer,  or  a  merchant  as  educated,  if  he  under- 
stands his  own  business.  But  in  a  dynamic  age,  especially 
if  it  is  also  democratic,  a  new  distinction  creeps  in.  Men 
move  into  a  larger  circle  than  that  about  their  own  oc- 
cupations; they  are  part  of  a  complex  civic  and  social 
organization;  enterprising  members  are  moving  upward 
and  the  unenterprising  downward.  Hence  the  person  who 
acquires  the  larger  general  civic  and  cultural  knowledge 


EXPLOITATION  AND  IGNORANCE  399 

becomes,  other  things  being  equal,  more  suited  to  the  con- 
ditions of  life  and  is  educated,  as  against  another  who  is 
ignorant  because  he  failed  for  some  reason  to  attain  this 
larger  knowledge.  Again,  as  the  person  educated  is  pre- 
sumably fit  for  the  higher  demands  of  society,  he  meets 
with  approval ;  but  his  fellow,  who  failed  to  make  a  sim- 
ilar attainment,  is  slighted  because  he  is  not  capable  of 
satisfying  those  demands.  Furthermore,  the  most  igno- 
rant, being  unfit  for  higher  demands,  are,  according  to  the 
Darwinian  .explanation,  in  process  of  elimination.  They 
receive  accordingly  a  wretched  wage,  are  poorly  housed, 
are  victims  of  disease  and  fail  to  guide  their  children  in- 
telligently in  so  complex  a  civilization.  Ignorance,  there- 
fore, becomes  a  matter  of  real  importance  to  society,  for 
the  individual  is  forced  into  conditions  that  push  always 
toward  ultimate  extermination,  and  society  becomes  bur- 
dened with  an  ever-increasing  dead  weight  of  apathetic 
humanity. 

Social  Policy  toward  Ignorance. — Now  if  igno- 
rance, incapacity,  and  viciousness  meant  the  same  thing, 
society  should  for  its  own  sake  hasten  nature's  methods 
and  free  itself  from  this  unendurable  load  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible; but  if,  on  the  other  hand,  incapacity  and  viciousness 
are  largely  due  to  ignorance,  and  ignorance  is  remediable, 
then  social  policy  should  aim  to  banish  ignorance,  at  least 
in  its  worst  forms.  This  is  the  policy  definitely  adopted 
in  democracies,  which  for  freedom's  sake  banish  censor- 
ship over  speech  and  thought  and  make  all  knowledge 
accessible  through  the  school  and  the  press.  Society  has 
turned  with  telic  purpose  toward  education,  and  is  bent 
on  making  ignorance  an  impossibility.  Recognizing  that 
individuals,  as  such,  cannot  under  the  conditions  of  life 
be  depended  on  to  attain  an  education  through  their  own 


400  SOCIOLOGY 

efforts,  the  state  is  committed  throughout  Western  civili- 
zation to  a  poHcy  of  general  compulsory  education. 

Social  Education. — The  chief  difficulty  heretofore  has 
been  to  decide  how  best  to  banish  the  worst  forms  of 
ignorance.  At  first  it  was  assumed  that  a  knowledge 
of  language  and  arithmetic  was  sufficient,  on  the  naive 
assumption  that  a  person  equipped  with  these  would  of 
his  own  accord  obtain  other  knowledge  also.  This  theory 
is  rapidly  disappearing  through  disappointment  at  re- 
sults. The  movement  now  is  to  furnish  increasingly 
broader  knowledge  so  that  a  progressive  society  must 
devote  itself  more  and  more  to  education,  enlarging 
the  "school  population,"  so  as  to  include  even  adults 
and  relying  increasingly  for  social  progress  oiv  the 
quality  of  education  given  to  its  members.  Society,  there- 
fore, through  books,  magazines,  and  newspapers,  through 
lectures  and  cultural  institutions  and  associations  of  all 
sorts,  as  well  as  through  public  and  specialized  schools, 
is  devoting  itself  to  the  task  of  giving  to  its  citizens  in- 
dustrial and  technical  instruction,  knowledg'e  of  civic 
duties,  a  scientific  comprehension  of  the  simpler  principles 
of  hygiene,  sanitation  and  dietetics,  and  opportunities  to 
acquire  the  elements  of  cultural  knowledge.  Formidable 
as  this  list  of  knowledge  may  seem,  it  easily  can  become 
a  common  possession,  and  in  many  communities  wider 
education  of  this  sort  is  already  a  matter  of  course.  It 
remains  for  society  to  systematize  and  enlarge  this  knowl- 
edge, and  to  insist  that  every  person  be  given  the  oppor- 
tunity, in  fact  as  well  as  in  theory,  to  get  a  vigorous  grasp 
of  the  knowledge  society  has  acquired  from  past  genera- 
tions and  is  increasing  by  its  own  efforts. 

It  is,  of  course,  an  error  to  assume  that  if  such  an  edu- 
cational system  were  in  thorough  working  order,  social 


EXPLOITATION  AND  IGNORANCE  401 

evils  would  thereby  be  eliminated.  Economic  conditions 
are  also  a  determining  factor  in  social  life,  and  in  some 
respects  the  most  powerful.  But  if  good  economic  con- 
ditions are  supplemented  by  a  real  education,  made  gen- 
eral, one  would  not  be  rash  in  arguing  that  the  basis  for  a 
right  civilization  at  last  existed,  and  that  from  henceforth 
the  evils  in  social  life  would  gradually  tend  to  disappear. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

POVERTY,  PAUPERISM,  AND  CRIME 

The  discussion  of  the  two  previous  topics  naturally 
suggests  the  treatment  of  the  present  subjects.  An  appre- 
ciation of  the  significance  of  exploitation  and  ignorance 
is  fundamental  to  any  understanding  of  society's  great  de- 
fects. This  is  more  evident  in  the  case  of  pauperism  than 
in  crime  or  vice,  for  the  connection  between  it  and  igno- 
rance is  obvious. 

Poverty  and  Pauperism 

A  clear  distinction  should  be  made  between  poverty  and 
pauperism.  Properly  speaking,  poverty  is  a  relative  term 
and  exists  only  by  comparison  with  higher  standards.  A 
millionaire  is  poor  to  a  multi-millionaire,  and  a  man  of 
moderate  salary  is  wealthy  to  a  low-wage  earner.  Socially 
speaking,  poverty  exists  when  a  person's  annual  income 
is  near  or  below  the  usual  social  standards  of  common 
comfort  and  decency  for  those  of  his  class  or  vocation, 
and  pauperism  exists  when  persons  need  regularly  to  have 
their  earnings  or  incomes  eked  out  by  public  or  private 
doles.  In  primitive  conditions  naturally  there  was  no 
pauperism,  and  poverty  was  honorable  since  all  were  poor. 
Property  was  communal  and  private  wealth  did  not  exist. 
Private  property  in  foods  and  land,  civil  law  guaranty- 
ing and  regulating  property  rights,  and  the  rise  of  a  lei- 

402 


POVERTY,  PAUPERISM,  AND  CRIME  403 

sure  exploiting  class,  are  the  three  agencies  that  in  later 
centuries  brought  the  problems  of  poverty  and  pauper- 
ism into  the  world.  In  theory  it  is  better,  in  speaking 
of  those  in  poverty  or  pauperism,  not  to  consider  as  pau- 
pers those  who,  by  reason  of  youth  or  old  age,  or  physical 
or  mental  incapacity,  are  not  capable  of  performing 
some  kind  of  useful  service.  By  common  consent  such 
dependency  is  entitled  to  aid  as  of  right  and  obtains  it  in 
varying  degree  from  family  or  society. 

Poverty  and  Natural  Selection. — Under  a  system 
of  genetic  development  society  should  pay  no  attention 
to  problems  of  poverty  and  pauperism;  and  alms,  if  given 
at  all,  should  be  looked  on  as  unwise  altruism  deserving 
even  social  censure.  For,  under  natural  conditions  pov- 
erty prevails;  a  few  struggle  towards  and  attain  wealth 
and  ease,  others  fail  in  the  competition,  and  the  weaker 
properly  should  die  of  hunger  or  its  attendant  evils.  It 
is  natural  selection,  and  human  experience  voices  it  in  the 
theory  that  war,  or  cut-throat  competition,  is  the  natural 
state  of  man.  The  socializing  process  is  seen  first  when 
the  kin  or  the  brotherhood  began  to  assume  responsibil- 
ity for  those  of  their  own  blood,  and  wealthier  men  be- 
gan to  have  "poor  relations."  Then  religion,  philan- 
thropic agencies,  fraternal  orders,  labor  unions,  and  finally 
the  state,  took  part  in  it  one  by  one,  as  the  struggle 
for  existence  became  keener  and  humanitarianism  grew 
stronger.  At  present  society  is  so  sensitive  to  human 
suffering,  and  so  altruistic,  that  the  burden  of  its  obliga- 
tions in  respect  to  charity  is  becoming  too  onerous,  and 
the  old  system  is  collapsing  by  its  own  weight,  owing  to 
the  severe  social  crises  that  have  developed  in  many  coun- 
tries because  of  the  great  war  and  its  attendant  financial 
crises. 


404  SOCIOLOGY 

Systems  of  Charity. — It  would  be  possible  to  argue 
that  charity  in  its  numerous  forms  is  on  the  whole  so- 
cially injurious.^  Large  amounts  of  money  and  human 
energy  of  a  high  grade  are  annually  devoted  to  palliative 
and  statical  methods  of  charity,  in  sad  comparison  with 
the  small  amount  devoted  to  preventive  and  remedial 
measures.  The  system  reminds  one  of  a  busy  housewife 
vigorously  expending  time  and  energy  in  wiping  up  the 
water  from  an  open  tap,  but  failing  in  her  excitement  to 
-turn  off  the  tap  itself.  Charity  workers  of  all  sorts  are 
well  agreed  that  the  real  causes  back  of  poverty  and  pau- 
perism are  (i)  the  lack  of  steady  work  the  year  round, 
especially  true  of  inefficient  and  unskilled  lal3or;  (2) 
sickness  through  ignorance,  wretched  housing,  poorly 
cooked  or  deficient  food,  and  preventable  injuries  in  busi- 
ness; (3)  a  lack  of  the  knowledge  needful  for  successful 
home  making;  and  (4)  vice  and  crime,  largely  products 
of  social  environment.  Now  if  as  a  matter  of  theory  the 
money,  labor,  and  consecrated  devotion  at  present  ex- 
pended in  charity  were  diverted  for  even  a  limited  term 
of  years  to  efforts  for  the  removal  of  these  conditions, 
and  the  creation  of  a  public  opinion  against  them,  un- 
questionably a  large  part  of  the  present  need  would  be 
eliminated.  No  such  telic  policy,  of  course,  can  be  put 
into  immediate  operation,  but  the  possibility  of  a  policy 
aiming  at  the  elimination  of  the  causes  of  extreme  poverty 
should  be  taken  into  account,  and  the  worst  features  of 
the  present  system  eliminated  one  by  one.  Poverty,  as 
distinct  from  pauperism,  is  an  international  problem,  the 
problem  of  a  whole  civilization,-  and  all  that  can  be  ex- 

*  For  an  excellent  argument  of  this  sort  see  Sumner's  What 
Social  Classes  Ozve  to  Each  Other. 

'An  indication  of  the  modern  trend  towards  an  international 
policy  in  respect  to  human  suffering  is  seen  in  Article  25  of  the 


POVERTY,  PAUPERISM,  AND  CRIME  405 

pected  from  a  given  government  under  present  condi- 
tions is  that  it  keep  the  standard  of  living  fairly  decent, 
and  devote  attention  to  the  elimination  of  conditions  be- 
low the  standard. 

Social  Betterment. — As  far  as  fundamental  condi- 
tions are  concerned,  it  is  obvious  that  if  industries  are 
wisely  regulated  and  careful  oversight  maintained  over 
the  conditions  of  labor,  and  if  steady  employment  can  be 
rendered  more  and  more  possible,  and  undue  competi- 
tion and  exploitation  reduced  to  harmless  proportions  by 
law  and  opinion,  the  chief  difficulties  will  have  been  over- 
come. General  and  industrial  education  will  aid  much 
in  the  process.  Through  labor  organizations  and  through 
municipal  regulation,  the  conditions  of  labor  and  living 
should  be  improved,  so  that  unnecessary  sickness  and  in- 
juries may  be  eliminated.  As  public  intelligence  develops 
and  civic  improvement  is  demanded,  better  housing,  sani- 
tation, and  a  knowledge  of  domestic  economics  will  build 
up  stronger  bodies  as  a  basis  for  growth  in  mental  ca- 
pacity. The  time  should  come  when  society  will  look 
upon  its  entire  burden  of  charity  as  an  "old  man  of  the 
seas,"  an  incubus  to  be  shaken  off  as  soon  as  possible. 
Curiously  enough,  society  now  smiles  approval  at  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  new  asylum  or  hospital,  but  begrudges 
the  money  for  improved  schools  or  for  scientific  experi- 
ments looking  towards  the  elimination  of  sickness  and 
disease.  When,  on  the  other  hand,  it  deliberately  multi- 
plies its  educational  agencies,  lops  off  its  charities  one  by 
one,  cancels  the  charters  of  "benevolent"  institutions  as 

League  of  Nations,  which  reads :  "The  Members  of  the  League 
agree  to  encourage  and  promote  the  establishment  and  cooperation 
of  duly  authorised  voluntary  national  Red  Cross  organisations  hav- 
ing as  purposes  the  improvement  of  health,  the  prevention  of  dis- 
ease, and  the  mitigation  of  suffering  throughout  the  world." 


4o6  SOCIOLOGY 

they  cease  to  be  needed,  and  prevents  accidents  by  safety 
devices,  then  society  may  claim  to  have  reached  a  condi- 
tion of  teHc  progress.  Altruistic  energy  in  that  case  will 
be  devoted  to  progressive  movements,  aiming  to  build  up 
the  cultural  standards  of  the  race,  instead  of  expending 
itself  in  an  effort  to  perform  a  constantly  increasing  task 
on  a  relatively  decreasing  income. 

Pauperism  Should  Be  Abolished. — The  funda- 
mental social  aims  should,  of  course,  be  to  abolish  pauper- 
ism in  its  entirety.  No  economic  system  should  rest  sat- 
isfied with  a  condition  in  which  physically  capable  men 
and  women  are  supported  without  corresponding  exer- 
tion on  their  own  part.  Farm  colonies,  labor  colonies, 
industrial  training,  all  such  agencies  should  be  utilized  to 
free  society  from  its  parasites  both  rich  and  poor.  The 
case  of  dependent  children,  the  aged,  and  the  sick  is  dif- 
ferent, and  agencies  for  the  prevention  of  such  depend- 
ency are  essential.  The  chief  remedies  here,  again,  are 
improved  economic  conditions  and  education.  Few  chil- 
dren would  be  dependent  if  fathers  earned  a  living  wage 
and  occupational  accidents  were  reduced  to  a  minimum.^ 

Poverty  Should  Be  Lessened. — Poverty  in  itself 
is  not  an  evil  if  a  fair  standard  of  living  is  assured,  per- 
manent employment  tolerably  certain,  and  proper  facili- 
ties available  for  the  health,  comfort,  and  education  of 
children.  It  is  not  likely  that  society  for  centuries  will 
eliminate  poverty,  but  it  can  conceivably  banish  pauper- 
ism and  the  strenuous  conditions  of  poverty,  so  as  to  les- 
sen the  strain  of  a  low-wage  system.  Any  one  at  all 
familiar  with  the  conditions  of  hard-working  families, 
marvels  at  their  skill  in  household  economics  and  their 
devotion  to  one  another  and  to  their  weaker  neighbors. 

°  See  Hollander's  Abolition  of  Poverty. 


POVERTY,  PAUPERISM,  AND  CRIME  407 

Some  of  the  very  best  achievements  in  human  character 
are  to  be  found  among  the  poor,  who  need  but  better  op- 
portunities to  become  our  most  capable  and  rehable  citi- 
zens. Every  precaution  should  be  taken  to  prevent  such 
persons  from  being  forced  into  pauperism,  for  when  once 
that  taint  of  passive  helplessness,  or  an  eagerness  for 
parasitic  support,  gets  into  the  blood,  degeneracy  is  in- 
evitable. To  the  worthy  poor,  society  owes  sympathy 
and  justice;  to  the  desperately  poor,  a  helping  hand  and 
wider  opportunities;  to  the  pauperized,  self-reproach, 
pity,  but  a  policy  of  elimination;  uplifting  if  possible, 
otherwise  segregating,  preventing  reproduction  of  kind. 
Charity  as  alms-giving,  on  the  other  hand,  should  not 
be  looked  on  as  a  high  form  of  altruism ;  the  better  opinion 
of  the  age  fights  against  that  view  of  it.  Charity  is  a 
temporary  remedy,  useful  in  backward,  but  obnoxious  in 
higher  civilization.  The  highly  developed  intuitively 
shrink  from  charity  and  prefer  starvation  or  suicide  as  an 
alternative.  Such  feelings  of  pride  and  self-respect  de- 
serve to  be  fostered;  they  should  not  be  stamped  out  by 
well-meaning  but  ignorant  persons  who  give  charity  in- 
stead of  intelligent  service  toward  the  removal  of  the 
causes  for  the  need  of  it.  The  time  was  when  men  asked 
for  bread  and  received  a  stone ;  now  they  ask  for  work  at 
a  living  wage  and  receive  bread.  Of  the  two,  the  gift  of 
bread  is  worse  than  the  hurling  of  the  stone.  Fraternity 
and  social  justice  are  the  proper  gifts  to  those  who  need 
both  food  and  kindness. 

Crime 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  crime  is  considered  a  more 
hopeful   social   phenomenon   than   pauperism.      If   the 


! 

4o8  SOCIOLOGY 

essential  basis  for  social  activity  is  vigorous  person- 
ality, a  criminal  represents  a  higher  type  than  an  inert 
pauper,  v^hose  heredity  is  defective  and  whose  chief 
characteristic  is  passivity.  Even  the  crime  of  the  one 
class  may  socially  be  less  injurious  than  the  vice  of  the 
other.  In  studies  of  defective  heredity,  of  which  there 
have  been  several  in  recent  years,  it  is  noted  that  the 
stronger  strains  of  a  degenerate  stock  turn  to  drunken- 
ness and  to  crime,  and  the  weaker  to  pauperism  and 
sexual  vice. 

Changing  Standards  in  Crime. — Criminality  also 
may  be  looked  on  as  a  sort  of  atavism,  a  survival  from 
former  ages  when  murder  and  robbery  outside  one's  fam- 
ily or  clan  were  considered  honorable.  Many  of  our 
criminals  would  have  been  "leading  citizens"  a  few  cen- 
turies back,  and  extolled  in  legend  like  Robin  Hood  or 
Dick  Turpin;  just  as  some  of  our  leading  citizens  to-day 
may  in  the  next  century  be  considered  as  criminals. 
Theft  was  once  a  civil  offense,  and  the  duel  and  the  feud, 
to  say  nothing  of  lynching,  still  meet  with  public  approval 
in  some  parts  of  Western  civilization.  It  is  a  question 
whether  the  crimes  of  capitalistic  "cornering,"  profiteer- 
ing, and  the  many  other  forms  of  exploitation  are  in 
public  opinion  social  offenses,  or  exhibitions  of  shrewd- 
ness deserving  of  approval."*  Theft  to  the  thief  is  a  sort 
of  lex  talionis.  He  considers  that  he  has  been  exploited 
by  society,  and  he  exploits  another's  property  as  com- 
pensation for  his  own  injuries.  It  would  be  possible  by 
Nietzschean  philosophy  to  glorify  murder,  theft,  and  se- 
duction on  the  basis  of  a  higher  law,  the  law  of  might; 
excellent  authority  could  be  found  for  it  also  in  Machia- 
velli,  in  individualistic  philosophy,  and  in  the  argument 

*Read,  e.g.,  E.  A.  Ross,  Sin  and  Society. 


POVERTY,  PAUPERISM,  AND  CRIME  409 

that  the  means  is  justified  by  the  end.'^  In  common  opin- 
ion crime  depends  on  the  amount  of  it :  the  greater  the 
crime  the  more  the  tendency  of  the  public  to  condone; 
and,  inversely,  punishment  is  relatively  severer  for  petty 
offenses. 

Crime  in  Its  Development. — Treason  w^as  the  only 
legal  crime  in  early  civilization,  other  matters  being  left 
to  private  settlement.  Then  crimes  against  the  person 
were  taken  one  by  one  under  civic  cognizance  as  being 
against  the  peace,  and  in  comparatively  late  ages  crimes 
against  property  became  public  offenses.  Many  a  person 
is  even  yet  in  doubt  as  to  whether  offenses  against  his 
honor  or  that  of  his  family  should  be  given  personal  at- 
tention or  referred  to  the  courts.  Corporations  are  com- 
paratively new  in  the  social  world,  and  their  property 
rights  are  not  respected  as  are  those  of  persons.  Many 
a  person  would  cheat  a  corporation,  out  of  a  railway  fare 
for  instance,  who  would  scorn  to  cheat  his  rival  in  busi- 
ness. One  might  add  also  that  many  corporations  still 
lack  the  conscience  that  presumably  should  accompany 
privilege  and  the  gift  of  legal  personality.  In  short,  the 
notion  of  crime  is  ill-defined,  as  befits  an  age  of  transition 
when  nations  are  passing  from  an  agricultural  civiliza- 
tion with  its  static  conditions  to  a  keenly  competitive 
commercial  regime.  It  is  important,  therefore,  that  in 
criminology  one  should  not  rely  overmuch  on  notions  of 
crime  conveyed  by  statute  books  and  commentaries  on 
criminal  law,  for  those  are  based  on  the  past,  and  fail  to 
take  readily  into  account  newer  developments  in  civiliza- 
tion. 

Crime  as  "Misdirected  Energy." — If  one's  theory 
of  crime  is  based  on  a  study  of  social  forces,  it  is  hard 

'  See  Ragnor  Redbeard,  Might  is  Right. 


410  SOCIOLOGY 

to  escape  the  conclusion  that  crime  is  "misdirected  en- 
ergy." In  such  sociological  studies  of  crime  as  those  of 
Lombroso  and  Ferri,  for  example,*'  the  question  of  hered- 
itary criminal  tendency  is  discussed  with  the  implied  con- 
clusion that  there  is  only  a  very  small  percentage  of  crim- 
inals who  are  inherently  vicious  because  of  inherited  ten- 
dencies. In  the  case  of  such  persons  the  only  possible 
remedy  is  for  society  permanently  to  segregate  them  and 
to  prevent  them  from  propagating.  If  the  marks  of  the 
criminal  type  can  really  be  ascertained,  as  Lombroso  as- 
serts, or  if  certain  criminals  by  their  acts  show  such  ten- 
dencies, the  law  should  not  hinder  society  from  perma- 
nently separating  them  from  their  fellows,  if  not  by  a 
painless  death,  at  any  rate  by  lifelong  seclusion  in  suit- 
able confinement.  As  for  the  remainder  of  the  criminal 
class,  writers  are  agreed  that  their  criminality  is  altogether 
due  to  the  conditions  of  their  environment.  Now  crim- 
inologists never  argue  that  because  a  person  has  become 
criminal  through  environment,  therefore  he  should  be 
allowed  to  escape  the  penalty  for  his  acts.  Only  an  ap- 
proximation to  exact  justice  can  be  expected  in  an  im- 
perfect civilization.  The  criminal  may  not  deserve  pimisJv- 
ment  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  word,  but  irrespective  of 
how  he  became  so,  he  is  a  dangerous  citizen  and  must  be 
treated  as  such.  Such  treatment  may  involve  detention, 
seclusion,  compulsory  training  of  some  sort,  perhaps  even 
death,  and  some  such  action  is  socially  necessary,  even 
though  there  may  be  twinges  of  social  remorse  in  the  do- 
ing of  it.  Yet  all  methods  of  that  sort  ought  to  be  con- 
sidered as  temporary,  leading  on  to  the  larger  policy  of 
the  practical  elimination  of  crime.  This  should  not  in 
these  days  seem  like  a  wild  suggestion.     No  man  living, 

*  See  Ferri,  Criminal  Sociology;  Lombroso,  The  Criminal. 


POVERTY,  PAUPERISM,  AND  CRIME  4" 

nor  his  son,  nor  his  son's  son  will  see  the  final  disappear- 
ance of  crime  from  society,  and  yet  each  should  see  it 
grow  relatively  less  through  scientific  study  and  wiser 
law. 

Sociological  Remedies  for  Crime. — Physiological, 
psychological,  and  eugenic  studies  of  abnormal  man  have 
already  been  begun  and  from  them  will  come  social  over- 
sight over  degenerate  stocks,  stimulation  of  the  better 
members,  separation  and  the  gradual  elimination  of  the 
worse,  and  of  all  habitual  criminals.  Social  oversight 
over  degenerate  families  would,  from  every  point  of 
view,'^  be  one  of  the  most  profitable  measures  which  so- 
ciety could  take. 

In  the  second  place,  criminologists  agree  that  most  of 
our  criminals  are  potentially  normal  persons,  who  have 
become  abnormal  physically  and  mentally  through  de- 
fective nurture,  education,  and  lack  of  opportunity  for 
advancement.  This,  of  course,  is  mainly  due  to  the  ex- 
istence of  unskilled,  poorly  paid  labor,  native  and  alien, 
who  lack  proper  food,  housing,  social  enjoyment,  and 
economic  opportunity.  The  existence  of  such  a  class  is 
preventable,  and  is  a  perpetual  menace  to  higher  civili- 
zation. Furthermore,  the  largest  percentage  of  the  crim- 
inal classes  is  made  up  of  minors  in  adolescence  and  of 
the  older  youth  of  both  sexes,  who  at  that  time  most  of  all 
need. what  they  so  rarely  have,  namely,  wise  guidance  and 
cultural  stimuli.  The  success  of  a  wiser  policy  is  clearly 
shown  by  the  results  of  a  proper  probation  system,  juve- 
nile courts,  industrial  and  disciplinary  schools,  and  re- 
formatories for  older  first  offenders.  If  our  poorer  pop- 
ulation were  given  fairer  opportunities  in  education,  and 

'  See  for  illustration,  A.  E.  Winship,  Jukcs-Edzuards;  a  Study 
in  Education  and  Heredity,  contrasting  the  descendants  of  the 
"Jukes"  and  of  Jonathan  Edwards. 


412  SOCIOLOGY 

a  better  preparation  for  industrial  life  and  social  enjoy- 
ment, crime  among  them  would  be  minimized. 

Conflicting  Moral  Standards. — There  would  still 
remain  a  large  class  of  offenses  due  to  the  conditions  of 
ethical  standards.  The  old  time  religious  basis  of  ethics 
is  weakening.  Many  of  the  ethical  teachings,  of  the  Old 
Testament  at  least,  are  inferior  to  the  practices  of  the 
present  generation,  and  the  opinions  of  councils  and  clergy 
on  newer  questions  of  ethics  are  taken  at  their  face  value 
only,  even  within  the  churches.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
scientific  basis  for  complete  moral  codes  are  not  yet  exact 
enough  for  use,  so  that  public  opinion  is  often  unable  to 
decide  between  right  and  wrong,  except  in  the  case  of  ac- 
tions condemned  or  approved  as  the  result  of  generations 
of  racial  experience.  To  meet  these  conditions  social,  re- 
ligious, and  educational  agencies  shduld  devote  them- 
selves vigorously  to  the  task  of  working  out  a  newer  eth- 
ics for  newer  social  sins,  and  unitedly  to  develop  as  rap^ 
idly  as  possible  a  public  opinion  and  agencies  for  sociat 
control,  that  will  guide  men's  ambitions  toward  socially 
approved  conduct.  Under  present  conditions  persons  can 
commit  crimes  and  retain  their  social  respectability,  be- 
cause public  opinion  is  too  vague.  For  instance,  ques- 
tions arise  as  to  the  justification  or  condemnation  of  vio- 
lence in  strikes,  lynching  when  law  is  incompetent,  "cor- 
ners" in  necessities  of  life,  bribery  in  politics,  profits  from 
the  sale  of  narcotics,  and  the  sale,  tacit  or  actual,  of  one's 
vote  in  elections  or  in  legislatures.  All  these  are,  of 
course,  condemned  by  the  moralist,  but  in  practice  are 
often  condoned  by  public  opinion.  Until  there  is  a  reen- 
forcement  of  ethical  principles  based  on  scientific  teach- 
ings and  standards  of  social  utility,  there  will  be  crime, 
due  to  our  transitional  ethics.     When  once  these  prin- 


POVERTY,  PAUPERISM,  AND  CRIME  413 

ciples  are  formulated  and  socially  approved,  the  power  of 
organized  public  opinion  is  so  formidable,  that  men  will 
tend  voluntarily  to  devote  their  energies  in  safer  and  so- 
cially wise  directions. 

Evils  of  Poor  Methods  of  Regulation. — One  of  the 
defects  of  an  imperfectly  developed  civilization  is  that 
attempts  to  regulate  or  suppress  supposed  evil  often  re- 
sult in  an  aggravation  of  the  evil  itself.^  For  instance, 
society  has  developed  so  vast  and  intricate  a  system  of 
criminal  law  and  procedure  in  respect  to  the  detection, 
trial,  and  punishment  of  criminals,  that  with  all  the  re- 
form of  the  last  hundred  years  it  is  still  the  despair  of 
the  philosophic  jurist  and  the  admiration  of  every  believer 
in  circumlocution  and  chicanery.  Law  schools,  like  the- 
ological seminaries,  seldom  graduate  philosophers,  so  that 
lawyers  are  often  skilled  in  the  details  of  their  business, 
but  inexpert  in  the  simple  principles  of  jurisprudence  and 
penology.  As  judges  and  legislators  are  chosen  chiefly 
from  the  membership  of  the  bar,  the  same  emphasis  on 
detail  and  technicality  manifests  itself  in  decision  and 
law,  so  that  too  often  a  legal  system  seems,  as  Dickens 
put  it,  a  device  for  "how  not  to  do  it."^  Unquestionably 
this  is  one  cause  of  crime.  The  delays  and  evasions  of 
the  law,  its  failure  to  conform  to  newer  social  standards 
and  conditions,  its  practical,  though  unintentional,  favor- 
itism, the  expense  of  litigation,  mostly  unnecessar}',  all 
combine  to  sap  one  of  society's  most  valued  achievements, 
reverence  for  and  obedience  to  law.  It  is  inconceivable 
that  if   society  had  to  make  anew  its   legal  system,   it 

*  The  history  of  religious  persecutions  would  supply  many  illus- 
trations, and  see  also  Herbert  Spencer's  discussion  of  "The  Sins  of 
Legislators"  in  The  Man  versus  the  State. 

"See,  for  illustrations,  report  of  the  Carnegie  Foundation  (1919) 
on  Justice  and  the  Poor,  by  Reginald  H.  Smith. 


414  SOCIOLOGY 

would  deliberately  devise  anything  like  the  present  law, 
and,  indeed,  one  of  the  earliest  tasks  of  any  successful 
revolution  is  a  revision  of  law  and  procedure.  There  is 
need  that  scientific  commissions  be  periodically  convened 
for  the  purpose  of  revising  and  simplifying  the  law,  and 
that  their  membership  consist  of  jurists  and  penologists, 
rather  than  of  those  engaged  in  criminal  practice,  a  some- 
what ambiguous  term.^*' 

Reforms  in  Systems  of  Punishment. — Akin  to  the 
evil  arising  from  the  technicality  of  law,  is  the  hindrance 
due  to  the  slow  movement  of  penological  reforms.  As 
long  as  crimes  were  thought  due  to  innate  depravity, 
it  was  natural  enough  to  assume  that  harsh  punish- 
ment should  be  meted  out  to  the  offender,  as  a  sort  of 
retaliation  against  a  social  enemy.  But  now,  when  it 
is  believed  that  the  great  mass  of  criminals  would  be 
normal  citizens,  had  society  done  its  duty  in  weeding  out 
degenerates  and  rightly  training  the  young,  vindictive- 
ness  changes  to  pity  and  a  desire  to  better  the  conditions 
of  punishment.  The  great  historical  stages  of  this  change 
are :  the  prohibition  of  cruel  punishments,  the  slow  pass- 
ing of  capital  and  corporal  punishment,  improvement 
in  the  general  treatment  of  criminals,  and  the  introduc- 
tion of  reformatory  methods  even  in  the  penitentiary. 
It  seems  evident  that  the  trend  of  change  is  in  the  gen- 
eral direction  of  making  punishment  a  system  of  indus- 
trial labor  and  education,  with  disciplinary  colonies  for, 
and  permanent  segregation  of  the  most  vicious,  so  as 
to  secure  the  elimination  of  their  stock.  The  ultimate 
remedy  for  crime  itself  has  already  been  indicated.  So- 
ciety must  not  simply  handle  its  criminals  wisely,  it  must 

"See  Parmelee,  Anthropology  and  Sociology  in  Relation  to 
Criminal  Procedure,  Chaps.  V-VII,  inclusive,  and  Ferri's  Criminal 
Sociology,  Chap.  III. 


POVERTY,  PAUPERISM,  AND  CRIME  415 

rearrange  its  manner  of  life  so  as  to  stop  the  manufac- 
ture, as  it  were,  of  a  vicious  population.  It  is  a  question, 
for  example,  whether  minors  who  commit  offenses,  should 
ever  be  considered  as  criminals,  or  whether  they  should 
not  rather  be  given  wise  advice  and  disciplinary  training. 
It  is  probable  that  the  idea  of  the  juvenile  court,  pro- 
bation, and  the  industrial  school,  will  result  in  treating  the 
offenses  of  minors  as  properly  under  special  educational 
supervision,  rather  than  criminal  jurisdiction;^^  while 
the  city  welfare  department  will  remove  one  by  one  the 
vicious  conditions  that  drive  so  many  young  persons  into 
offenses  against  the  law.  It  is  also  probable  that  persons 
charged  with  minor  offenses,  especially  if  first  offenders, 
will  cease  to  be  considered  criminals  and  be  placed  on 
probation  and  made  either  to  pay  civil  damages  or  be 
treated  through  other  agencies  than  the  prison,  for  ex- 
ample, the  hospital,  the  industrial  reformatory,  or  the 
farm  colony. 

Social  Freedom  from  Crime. — It  hardly  seems  Uto- 
pian to  hope  that  society  might  largely  free  itself  from 
crime  if  it  would  systematically  segregate  the  hardened 
criminal,  supervise  degenerate  stock,  give  special  train- 
ing to  youthful  and  first  offenders,  and  make  steady 
improvement  in  t»he  conditions  of  life,  raising  economic 
standards,  and  simplifying  criminal  law  and  procedure. 
A  generation  of  the  next  century  may  perhaps  look  at 
the  ruins  of  our  Sing  Sings,  with  much  the  same  feel- 
ing that  a  modem  visitor  gazes  at  the  mediaeval  dungeons 
of  Europe.  William  Morris  may  not  have  been  far  wrong 
in  dreaming  of  a  time  when  criminal  law  had  become  ob- 
solete and  criminals  so  rare  that,  if  a  crime  were  com- 

"  See  Russell  and  Rigby,  The  Making  of  the  Criminal;  Thomas 
Travis,  The  Young  Malefactor;  Arthur  Train,  The  Prisoner  at 
the  Bar. 


4i6  SOCIOLOGY 

mitted,  the  offender  found  his  punishment  in  loneliness 
and  remorse. 

Crime  Is  Not  Natural. — It  is  ordinarily  thought  that 
if  punishment  for  crime  were  removed  from  the  statutes, 
everybody  would  at  once  become  eager  to  commit  crime. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  our  criminal  statutes  even  now 
apply  only  to  a  very  small  percentage  of  the  population. 
The  larger  part  of  a  people  are  moral,  and  prefer  to  re- 
main so  because  of  their  desire  for  social  approbation. 
If  popular  opinion  could  be  strengthened,  and  vicious 
conditions  removed,  it  would  make  small  difference  to  the 
great  majority  of  the  people  whether  there  was  a  criminal 
code  or  not.  Men  naturally  love  to  be  in  sympathy  with 
their  fellows,  and  .nothing  more  quickly  destroys  the 
best  in  a  man  than  the  knowledge  that  he  is  looked 
on  as  a  social  outcast.  The  criminal's  psychology  is  ab- 
normal, because  he  is  in  an  abnormal  situation.  Work- 
ers like  IMrs.  Booth^-  make  clear  the  fact  that  prisoners 
are  human  beings,  longing  for  a  something  they  no 
longer  enjoy;  the  consciousness  of  being  an  integral 
part  of  their  race,  working  with  it  and  for  it,  as  every 
normal  man  should.  Criminals  should  be  socialized,  not 
antagonized,  and  the  process  of  socializing  a  potential 
criminal  should  begin  in  the  cradle  and  be  particularly 
emphasized  through  the  adolescent  period.  If  our  present 
social  organization,  so  prolific  a  breeder  of  criminals, 
would  adopt  a  telic  policy  in  respect  to  crime,  the  eco- 
nomic and  social  waste  involved  in  "misdirected  energy" 
and  in  policing  might  be  diverted  to  useful  social  activi- 
ties. 

"  See  her  work,  After  Prison,  What? 


CHAPTER    XXVI 

intemperance  and  sexual  immorality 

Intemperance 

Next  to  sexual  immorality  in  its  prevalence  in  mod- 
em civilization  is  the  evil  of  intemperance.  Though 
for  the  purposes  of  discussion  this  term  will  be  chiefly 
restricted  to  phenomena  arising  from  the  excessive  use 
of  alcoholic  drinks,  yet  in  theory  the  use  of  narcotics 
should  be  included,  since  the  effects  from  the  use  of 
drug  and  liquor  are  much  the  same.  Certainly  no  one 
can  deny  the  enormous  evils  incident  to  such  forms  of 
intemperance,  evils  so  deep-rooted  and  widespread  as 
seriously  to  hamper  the  forward  movement  of  society. 
It  is  natural,  therefore,  when  these  evils  first  force 
themselves  on  the  attention,  to  follow  primitive  instincts 
and  favor  a  policy  of  tabu.  For  this  reason,  society, 
under  the  impulse  of  an  awakening  conscience,  may, 
as  in  the  United  States,  forbid  the  manufacture  and 
sale  of  liquors,  or  it  may  refuse  to  allow  their  importa- 
tion, or  else  may  prohibit  the  sale  of  liquor  to  certain 
classes,  when  plainly  inimical  to  social  welfare,  as,  for 
example,  in  the  case  of  minors  or  the  skilled  em- 
ployees of  railroads.  All  tabus  have  their  utility,  and 
are  more  or  less  effective  in  proportion  to  the  thor- 
oughness  of   enforcement   and   the   strength   of    public 

417 


4i8  SOCIOLOGY 

opinion.  As  a  permanent  policy  society  must  have  a  more 
scientific  basis  for  temperance. 

Prohibition  in  the  United  States. — In  the  United 
States  prohibition  came  as  the  cHmax  of  generations  of 
agitation,  and  final  action  was  powerfully  aided  by  the 
war  situation.  It  would  be  an  error,  however,  to  argue 
that  public  opinion  was  not,  aside  from  the  war,  strongly 
in  favor  of  the  Eighteenth  Amendment  to  the  Federal 
Constitution.  Three  states  ^  only  withheld  their  approval, 
and  these  are  relatively  small  and  contain  populations 
largely  of  foreign  birth  or  parentage.  It  is  not  at  all 
likely  that  the  amendment  ever  will  be  repealed,  although 
concessions  through  Congressional  law  in  respect  to  al- 
coholic per  cent  may  possibly  be  made.  Presumably, 
for  a  whole  generation  there  will  be  innumerable  illegal 
stills  and  lax  enforcement  of  law,  but  gradually,  as  the 
older  generation  dies  away,  the  newer  generation,  un- 
used to  the  saloons  and  unfamiliar  with  liquors  as  bever- 
ages will  develop  a  public  opinion  definitely  adverse  to 
the  return  of  former  conditions.  Unquestionably  the 
economic  gain  and  greater  production  through  the  pass- 
ing of  the  saloon,  to  say  nothing  of  increased  social 
happiness,  will  give  the  nation  an  advantage  that  may 
have  great  influence  in  determining  other  nations  to 
adopt  the  same  policy.  It  is  inconceivable,  for  example, 
that  Canada  can  afford  to  retain  the  saloon  and  thereby 
become,  like  Cuba,  a  resort  for  those  who  prefer  liquors 
to  sobriety,  making  the  Dominion  into  a  sort  of  red-light 
district. 

Other  Policies  in  Use. — It  may  be,  however,  that 
nations  other  than  the  United  States  may  prefer  some 
other  policy  against  intemperance  than  that  of  prohibition, 
*  New  Jersey,  Connecticut,  and  Rhode  Island. 


INTEMPERANCE  AND  SEXUAL  IMMORALITY     419 

for,  after  all,  prohibitory  laws  in  themselves  are  low  in 
grade,  as  compared  to  a  wise  but  slower  policy  of  elimina- 
tion through  education  and  modification  of  social  en- 
vironment. 

It  should  not  be  assumed,  for  example,  that  in  West- 
em  civilization  abstinence  is  synonymous  with  temper- 
ance. Stimulating  beverages  will  probably  be  to  some 
extent  used  in  many  parts  of  the  world  in  the  future 
as  in  the  past.  Drinking  habits  are  too  widespread,  and 
the  attractiveness  of  liquor  is  too  powerful  to  permit  of 
general  disuse,  for  many  generations  at  least.  But  a 
large  part  of  the  evils  of  intemperance  should  disappear 
and  the  sooner  the  better.  If  a  policy  of  systematic 
reduction  of  the  drinking  habit  were  adopted,  in  place 
of  attempts  at  complete  annihilation,  a  first  step  might 
be  made  by  insistence  on  the  purity  of  liquors  offered 
for  consumption;  the  State  should  insist  on  a  set  standard 
of  purity  as  a  prerequisite  for  permission  to  place  liquor 
on  sale.  Then,  too,  if  liquors  of  low  alcoholic  per  cent 
gradually  supplanted  stronger  beverages,  crimes  of  vio- 
lence would  be  lessened  in  number.  Furthermore,  many 
improvements  in  the  system  of  regulation  can  be  devised, 
so  as  to  eliminate  certain  evils  inherent  in  license  sys- 
tems. There  are  many  c[uestions  in  a  license  system 
needing  more  careful  study,  such  as,  for  example,  the 
methods  of  obtaining  licenses,  the  proportion  of  saloons 
to  population,  the  evils  arising  from  sales  by  clubs,  drug- 
stores, and  illegal  bar  rooms,  and  the  relation  of  the 
police  to  those  legally  or  illegally  engaged  in  the  traffic. 
Possibly  as  a  substitute  for  a  license  system,  experi- 
ments in  monopolies  of  manufacture  and  sale  should  be 
carefully  studied,  so  as  to  see  whether  or  not  the  element 
of  private  profit  can  be  eliminated.     This  would  be  a 


420  SOCIOLOGY 

most  important  modification,  for  if  the  economic  motive 
for  the  multiplication  of  sales  could  be  removed,  sales 
would  largely  diminish,  and  advocates  of  temperance 
would  be  able  to  exercise  greater  influence  in  legislation. 
For  this  reason  the  Scandinavian  system,  in  which  a 
philanthropic  corporation  controls  a  monopoly  of  the 
business  and  supposedly  devotes  all  profits  above  a  low 
maximum  to  public  use,  is  a  method  worthy  of  serious 
attention. 

Then,  too,  the  State  might  refuse  the  privilege  of  the 
mails  to  publications  containing  advertisements  of  liquor, 
just  as  the  Federal  Government  of  the  United  States 
refuses  to  allow  lottery  advertisements  to  be  thus  dis- 
tributed. It  is  not  unlikely,  also,  that  pubhc  opinion 
might  be  brought  to  bear  on  newspapers  and  magazines, 
so  as  to  induce  them  to  bar  from  their  columns  all 
advertising  matter  in  respect  to  the  sale  of  liquors.  In 
the  same  way  a  sort  of  social  boycott,  like  that  of  the 
Consumers'  League  against  sweat-shop  goods,  might 
be  created  against  hotels  and  drug,  grocery,  and  depart- 
ment stores  that  keep  liquors  for  sale.  An  aroused 
public  opinion,  banning  advertisements  and  restricting 
sales  to  licensed  places  handling  liquors  only,  would  cut 
off  two  great  sources  of  the  spread  of  the  drinking  habit ; 
for  judicious  advertising  increases  sales,  and  the  stimulus 
of  private  profit  leads  many  firms  to  add  the  sale  of 
liquors  to  their  other  lines  of  business. 

Influence  of  Right  Education. — INIuch,  also,  has 
been  and  can  be  accomplished  by  associations  for  the 
promotion  of  temperance.  The  influence  of  such  move- 
ments is  powerful  wnen  they  seek  to  stimulate  men  to 
right  action  by  appeals  to  higher  motives  based  on  a 
real   knowledge   of   the   situation.      Scientific   education 


INTEMPERANCE  AND  SEXUAL  IMMORALITY     421 

also  is  an  influential  factor,  but  all  attempts  to  educate 
the  youth  or  to  develop  public  opinion  should  be  fair 
and  should  seek  to  present  the  question  as  a  whole,  not 
emphasizing  its  abnormal  and  one-sided  aspects.  Ex- 
aggerated teachings  in  respect  to  intemperance  are  harm- 
ful in  the  long  run,  since  more  exact  knowledge  brings 
revulsion  of  feeling.  If  instruction  in  temperance  is 
given  in  the  schools,  as  in  the  United  States,  it  is  im- 
portant that  text-book  and  teacher  handle  the  question  in- 
telligently, and  present  it,  not  simply  as  a  physiological 
and  moral  problem,  but  as  a  matter  affecting  the  whole 
of  social  life  and  demanding  the  formation  of  social 
standards  and  purposive  activity.  The  churches  also 
need  to  adopt  the  same  viewpoint.  Religious  temper- 
ance agitation  would  better  emphasize  a  scientific  study 
of  the  question  as  a  social  problem,  rather  than  make 
it  a  religious  demand,  involving  a  war  against  the  saloon. 
Instead  of  arousing  the  combative  and  sympathetic  emo- 
tions of  their  audiences,  the  ministry  would  better  ap- 
peal to  the  intellect  by  a  careful  presentation  of  the 
larger  aspects  of  the  question  arising  from  social  and 
scientific  studies.  In  place  of  their  insistence  on  personal 
pledges,  they  would  accomplish  more  by  attempts  to 
improve  regulation  and  to  modify  social  conditions. 

Habits  of  Social  Drinking. — The  question  of  in- 
temperance has,  however,  a  more  completely  sociological 
phase,  since  the  desire  for  drink  is  also  a  social  force.  As 
a  desire  it  is  in  origin  physiological,  psychological,  and 
social.  In  social  life  the  use  of  liquors  has  become  a 
custom,  and  many  persons  drink  simply  because  it  is 
usual  at  meals  or  in  social  companionship.  They  have 
no  craving  for  liquor  because  of  its  effects,  but  merely 
partake  of  or  furnish  the  beverage  customary  on  social 


422  SOCIOLOGY 

occasions,  whether  it  be  coffee,  mineral  water,  or  liquors. 
Evidently  the  remedy  for  such  a  custom,  if  one  is  de- 
manded, lies  in  its  modification  by  argument,  and  through 
imitation  of  examples  set  by  social  leaders.  It  is,  how- 
ever, the  least  objectionable  form  of  drinking,  and,  if 
it  never  went  to  excess,  would  probably  lead  to  no 
further  discussion  than  that  over  the  growing  use  of 
coffee  or  tea.  The  custom  may  naturally  become  evil 
when  the  amount  of  liquor  consumed  becomes  large,  and 
the  element  of  waste  becomes  a  factor  in  the  situation, 
along  with  tendencies  toward  drunkenness  by  the  weaker 
members  of  society,  A  relatively  large  part  of  drinking 
for  social  purposes  is  done  in  saloons  and  club  rooms, 
because  these  are  natural  social  centers ;  persons  who  have 
no  moral  objections  to  the  saloon  readily  find  in  it  an 
attractive  companionship  and  much  sociability  of  a  cer- 
tain sort.  In  such  cases  the  drinking  may  be  merely  in- 
cidental to  the  social  features,  and  in  many  cases  some 
other  form  of  drink  would  be  equally  acceptable.  It  is 
probable,  therefore,  that  when  society  definitely  under- 
takes to  furnish  attractive  recreational  centers,  where 
abundant  opportunities  are  offered  for  social  enjoyment, 
many  persons  who  now  frequent  saloons  will  prefer  to 
pass  their  time  in  these  rival  places  of  amusement,  open, 
it  may  be,  to  their  families  also,  and  where  liquor,  if 
furnished  at  all,  would  be  sold  only  in  its  milder  forms, 
as  in  Europe.  One  of  the  really  hopeful  movements  of 
modern  times  is  in  the  development  of  such  social  centers, 
where  numerous  classes  of  people  may  secure  light  re- 
freshments and  amusements  of  a  better  sort  for  trifling 
sums. 

Psychological  Aspect. — If  the  desire  for  intoxicat- 
ing liquor  is  psychological,  it  may  be  due  to  a  morbid 


INTEMPERANCE  AND  SEXUAL  IMMORALITY     423 

craving  for  the  excitement  of  drunkenness,  or  to  mental 
strain  caused  by  reverses  in  business,  domestic  losses, 
or  disappointed  ambitions.  If  a  person  drinks  simply 
for  the  sake  of  the  effects  of  intoxication,  he  is  essentially 
irresponsible  and  should  be  treated  accordingly.  Pro- 
bation or  compulsory  detention  for  purposes  of  education 
and  training  are  the  proper  remedies,  and  sterner  meas- 
ures should  be  taken,  if  necessary,  to  prevent  such  forms 
of  indulgence,  leading,  as  they  so  often  do,  to  crime  and 
vice.  If  grief  or  financial  reverses  cause  the  demand  for 
the  stupefaction  arising  from  intoxication,  the  chief 
remedy  lies  in  the  diversion  of  attention  from  the  ex- 
citing cause,  and  the  arousal  of  new  interests  through 
friendly  assistance,  advice,  or  even  medical  attention. 
Such  cases  as  these  are  relatively  few  in  number,  and 
the  mental  conditions  should  pass  away  with  proper  care. 
Physiological  Causes. — The  really  serious  cravings 
for  stimulants  arise  from  physiological  causes.  If  a 
human  body  is  improperly  or  insufficiently  fed,  if  the 
lungs  are  not  regularly  supplied  with  a  proper  amount 
of  oxygen,  or  if  the  body  and  nervous  system  are  break- 
ing down  through  overwork  or  nervous  strain  due  to 
worry,  then  the  physical  system  demands  relief,  and  a 
feverish  condition  develops,  an  unrest  indicative  of  ap- 
proaching physical  collapse.  Under  natural  conditions 
this  state  should  be  followed  by  lassitude,  weakness,  sus- 
ceptibility to  disease,  and  ultimately  premature  death. 
The  proper  remedies,  of  course,  would  be  nourishing 
foods,  sanitary  conditions  of  housing  and  labor,  and  re- 
laxation from  mental  strain.  Such  remedies  unfortu- 
nately are  out  of  the  question  for  low-wage  earners,  who 
must  be  satisfied  with  a  niggardly  subsistence  and  a 
wretched  environment.     Under  present  conditions  they 


424  SOCIOLOGY 

must  remain  in  this  situation,  largely  because,  through 
defective  training  and  nurture,  they  lack  intelligence 
enough  to  understand  their  needs  and  the  danger  of  con- 
tracting vicious  habits.  If  they  had  foresight,  they  would 
push  upward  in  the  economic  world  and  would  not  re- 
main among  poorly  paid  workers ;  but  in  their  short- 
sightedness it  is  natural  enough  for  them,  when  they 
find  themselves  inert,  to  imitate  the  habits  of  their  neigh- 
bors, in  order  to  find  a  temporary  remedy  for  their  condi- 
tion. Wherever  there  is  poverty,  there  will  be  a  de- 
mand for  stimulants,  not  because  of  inherent  wicked- 
ness, as  is  sometimes  thought,  but  because  of  imperfect 
bodily  development.  Such  persons  are  sickly,  unsymmet- 
rical,  and  age  rapidly  under  the  strain  of  life. 

As  liquor  in  all  of  its  forms  is  easily  obtained  and  is 
comparatively  cheap,  the  average  person  in  Western  civili- 
zation turns  to  that.  This  can  be  illustrated  by  a  study 
of  the  location  of  drinking  places  in  any  large  city. 
The  great  mass  of  them  will  be  found  wherever  the 
poor  live.  In  the  sections  occupied  by  skilled  working- 
men,  where  economic  and  domestic  conditions  are  bet- 
ter>  saloons  are  fewer  in  number;  in  the  so-called  resi- 
dential sections  where  the  population  has  the  maximum 
of  household  comfort,  there  are  few  or  no  saloons. 
Others  will  be  found  massed  near  the  vicinity  of  red-light 
districts  and  business  centers;  in  the  last  case  so  as  to 
cater  to  transient  trade  and  social  drinking,  or  to  furnish 
liquor  supplementary  to  a  meal. 

Social  Policies  Important. — Drinking,  heretofore, 
has  been  largely  confined  to  men,  but  henceforth  women, 
as  they  enter  economic  and  social  life,  will  demand  the 
same  privileges  as  their  male  kin;  so  that  the  drinking 
habit  both  public  and  private  will  probably  be  common 


INTEMPERANCE  AND  SEXUAL  IMMORALITY     425 

among  women,  keeping  pace  with  the  growth  or  decrease 
of  the  habit  among  men.  Women  under  present  tenden- 
cies will  hardly  be  deterred  by  the  argument  that  women 
are  different  and  should  be  better  than  men,  a  point  in 
ethics  somewhat  difficult  to  prove. 

Now  if  this  be  a  true  statement  of  the  case,  evidently 
the  remedy  for  intemperance  among  the  poor  will  not  be' 
met  by  prohibition.  Moral  exhortations  and  educational 
information  will  make  small  difference,  a  pledge  would  be 
as  a  rule  efficacious  only  when  followed  by  a  radical 
change  in  environment,  nor  will  social  substitutes  for 
the  saloon  prove  entirely  satisfactory.  Prohibition  in- 
evitably will  be  followed  by  illegal  manufacturing,  sales, 
and  purchases.  Remedies  to  be  really  effective  must  be 
far-reaching.  It  would  be  necessary,  for  instance,  to 
fight  disease  in  all  of  its  forms;  to  make  permanent  im- 
provement in  sanitation,  housing,  and  the  conditions  of 
labor;  to  forbid  child  labor  in  toto;  female  labor,  except 
under  healthful  conditions ;  and  to  regulate  fully  under 
police  powers  male  labor  in  dangerous  and  disease- 
breeding  occupations.  Systematic  instruction  in  domestic 
economy  and  cooking  should  also  be  given  to  girls  in 
the  schools,  and  to  mothers  through  mothers'  clubs,  so  as 
to  enable  them  to  furnish  their  families  with  nourish- 
ing foods  at  no  greater  expense  than  that  of  the  wretch- 
edly cooked  foods  of  poor  dietetic  value  now  usually 
provided.  There  should  also  be  in  every  neighborhood, 
parks,  gymnasia,  reading-rooms,  libraries,  and  social  cen- 
ters, through  the  utilization  of  school  buildings  and  ward 
halls,  or  rooms  furnished  by  churches  interested  in  so- 
cial betterment.  If  at  the  same  time  there  was  a  general 
economic  movement  to  eliminate  poorly  paid  labor,  it 
is  obvious  that  the  problem  of  intemperance  would  rapidly 


426  SOCIOLOGY 

assume  less  alarming  proportions,  and  would  become 
capable  of  ultimate  settlement  through  social  control 
and  education. 

Regulation  of  Drunkenness. — As  far  as  drunken- 
ness itself  is  concerned,  there  is  need  of  a  radical  change 
in  social  policy.  Drunkenness  is  still  under  the  law  con- 
sidered a  crime,  though  all  science  is  against  any  such 
view.  The  arrest  and  imprisonment  of  drunkards  form 
a  large  part  of  the  work  of  the  police,  and  the  system  in 
its  effects  is  socially  vicious.  Drunkards  should  be  treated 
as  minors  are  under  the  modern  system.  The  circum- 
stances should  be  carefully  investigated  through  a  special 
court,  probation  used  whenever  possible,  and  cases  of 
habitual  drunkenness  should  have  medical  treatment  and 
be  segregated  in  farm  and  industrial  colonies.  Under  this 
system,  in  place  of  increasing  domestic  cares  by  the  im- 
position of  a  fine,  the  wages  earned  by  the  person  under 
restraint  could  be  legally  directed  to  the  support  of  his 
family.  Those  only  should  be  treated  as  criminals  who 
deliberately  drink  for  excitement's  sake,  and  commit  acts 
of  violence.  For  these  the  compulsory  industrial  methods 
of  the  modern  reformatory  are  essential.  If  a  careful 
policy  of  this  sort  were  carried  out  for  a  few  years, 
the  expense  of  it  would  find  ample  justification  in  ultimate 
economy  and  social  improvement. 

Narcotics. — The  United  States  by  the  Congres- 
sional law  of  19 14  has  adopted  a  prohibitory  policy  in 
respect  to  narcotics.  The  law  aims  "to  limit  and  con- 
trol the  use  of  opiate  drugs  and  cocaine  by  making  their 
possession  and  distribution  illegal  by  other  than  those 
of  professional  and  other  status  designated  in  the  law."  ^ 
The  habitual  use  of  cocaine  results  in  crime  and  in  moral 

*  The  Narcotic  Drug  Problem,  by  Dr.  Ernest  S.  Bishop,  p.  95. 


INTEMPERANCE  AND  SEXUAL  IMMORALITY     427 

and  mental  degeneration;  there  can  be  no  justification 
for  its  use  and  sale.  Opiates,  on  the  other  hand,  are  es- 
sential in  medical  practice,  and  by  timely  administra- 
tion in  case  of  wounds  or  painful  sickness  may  save 
life  and  reason.  Unfortunately  physicians  and  surgeons 
may  give  opiates  unnecessarily,  or  protract  treatment  un- 
duly, so  that  the  physical  system  of  the  patient  becomes 
adjusted  to  the  drug  and  demands  continued  doses  of 
opium,  so  as  to  deaden  the  physical  agony  that  other- 
wise would  result.  Patients  of  this  sort  are  not  "dope 
fiends"  who  deliberately  seek  opium  out  of  a  love  of 
novelty,  or  because  of  degenerate  and  neurotic  disposi- 
tions. They  became  addicted  to  drugs  innocently,  largely 
through  the  ignorance  or  carelessness  of  their  physicians, 
and  are  often  persons  of  high  character  and  intelligence. 
In  place,  therefore,  of  indiscriminate  condemnation  of 
all  users  of  opiates  as  vicious  and  degenerate,  a  proper 
distinction  should  be  made  between  those  who  deliberately 
indulge  for  the  sake  of  the  effects,  knowing  in  advance  the 
danger  of  their  action,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  those 
who  innocently  became  users  of  drugs  under  direction  of 
those  assumed  to  be  capable  of  giving  expert  advice. 

Yet  in  both  cases  the  patient,  once  in  the  grip  of 
opium,  should  be  considered  not  as  vicious,  but  as  dis- 
eased. The  remedy,  therefore,  is  not  in  a  sudden  de- 
privation of  the  drug  and  consequent  agony  of  suffer- 
ing, but  in  a  rational  medical  treatment  by  competent 
physicians  well  informed  as  to  the  scientific  facts  and 
best  medical  practice.  Quack  practitioners  and  illegal 
traffickers  in  drugs  should,  of  course,  be  suppressed, 
and  the  public  and  physicians  generally  should  be  educated 
as  to  the  legitimate  special  use  of  opiates  and  the  great 
danger  in  the  habitual  use  of  drugs  of  any  sort  whatso- 


428  SOCIOLOGY 

ever.  In  any  case,  those  addicted  to  the  use  of  drugs 
should  not  be  treated  as  vicious,  criminal,  or  weak  in 
will  and  intellect;  they  are  physically  diseased,  poisoned, 
and  need,  not  the  jail  or  social  condemnation,  but  rather 
careful  medical  treatment  aiming  to  restore  the  patient 
to  normal  physical  health.  Physicians  themselves  are 
often  users  of  opiates,  owing  to  the  strain  and  irregular- 
ity of  life  necessitated  by  medical  practice;  soldiers  also, 
recovering  from  wounds,  too  often  become  addicted  to 
drugs,  because  of  their  physical  condition ;  many  forms  of 
patent  medicine  contain  drugs  that  in  time  make  the  users 
drug  addicts,  without  their  knowledge.  There  should  be 
more  instruction  of  a  scientific  sort  given  through  the 
press  to  the  public  at  large,  and,  as  already  indicated, 
careful  provision  should  be  made  for  legalized  practition- 
ers and  hospitals  authorized  to  furnish  opiates  when  nec- 
essary as  part  of  a  thorough  treatment  aiming  to  cure. 

Sexual  Immorality 

The  problem  of  sexual  immorality  is  one  of  the  most 
serious  that  society  has  to  face,  and  one  in  whose  past 
solutions  it  can  feel  least  pride.  Sexual  passion  is  a  funda- 
mental feeling,  and  being  necessary  for  racial  continuance, 
is  not  inherently  evil.  This  passion  is  probably  more  in- 
tense in  civilized  man  than  in  the  savage,  owing  to  the  ef- 
fects of  a  more  stimulating  diet,  the  use  of  clothing,  and 
the  development  of  a  vivid  imagination.  By  natural  evo- 
lution, too,  those  in  whom  sexual  feeling  is  weak  tend  to 
die  out  through  failure  to  marry  or  through  lack  of  de- 
scendants. On  the  other  hand,  the  violently  passionate, 
who  fail  to  regulate  indulgence  through  the  intellect,  tend 
to  become  degenerate  through  excess  or  disease.     Under 


INTEMPERANCE  AND  SEXUAL  IMMORALITY     429 

the  law  of  survival,  therefore,  the  human  race  is  chiefly- 
perpetuated  by  those  of  average  or  vigorous  passions, 
who  are  controlled  by  social  or  personal  reasons  and  who 
conform  to  standards  of  sexual  indulgence  set  by  racial 
experience. 

The  Social  Problem  of  Sexuality. — In  past  cen- 
turies the  very  intensity  of  sexual  passion  focalized 
individual  and  social  attention  on  it ;  the  dangers  inherent 
in  it  were  recognized,  but  the  intellect  in  its  ignorance 
tried  to  stem  them  by  unwise  measures,  and  the  results 
have  been  disastrous.  One  of  the  saddest  pages  in  all 
social  history  is  the  record  of  social  tabu  and  regulation 
in  respect  to  sexual  passions.  The  problem  now  is  not 
simply  to  work  out  a  program  for  the  regulation  of  hu- 
man sexuality,  but  also  to  remedy,  if  possible,  the  con- 
sequences of  past  errors.  It  is  a  subject  that  demands 
the  most  serious  consideration  of  thoughtful  humanity, 
for  the  handicap  of  sexual  vice  is  a  most  serious  draw- 
back on  social  progress  and  the  racial  benefits  that  might 
arise  from  a  comprehension  of  and  obedience  to  the 
laws  of  sexuality  are  incalculable. 

The  problem  from  the  standpoint  of  sociology  may  be 
stated  as  follows ;  given  a  fundamental  feeling  so  power- 
ful in  its  potential  energy  that  it  vies  with  economic 
cravings  of  all  sorts  as  a  stimulus  to  human  activity, 
how  may  it  be  guided  into  useful  directions,  while  in- 
cidentally preventing  it  from  becoming  socially  harmful. 
Had  society  from  the  beginning  possessed  this  knowledge, 
it  might  have  escaped  many  of  the  evils  that  now  are 
seemingly  so  ineradicable.  Even  if  modern  science  fur- 
nished this  information,  society  might  deem  itself  power- 
less in  view  of  the  conditions  of  civilization.  Yet  so- 
cial  handicaps   cannot   permanently    retard   civilization. 


430  SOCIOLOGY 

provided  only  that  society  sees  its  goal  and  plans  sys- 
tematically, so  as  to  attain  it. 

The  Sex  Problem  a  Complex  One. — Although  the 
sex  problem  is  fundamentally  of  great  social  importance, 
the  study  of  it  devolves  primarily  on  other  sciences, 
chiefly  biology,  psychology,  economics,  and  ethics;  for 
this  reason  a  better  understanding  of  the  problem  can 
be  obtained  by  looking  at  it  from  these  several  view- 
points, as  aspects  of  a  common  problem.  Biologically 
speaking,  human  stock  should  be  propagated  from  the 
strongest  physical  strains,  and  the  weaker  should  be 
eliminated  as  rapidly  as  possible.  Psychology  adds  that 
vigorous  mentality  also  should  be  taken  into  account, 
and  mental  weaklings  likewise  eliminated.  From  this 
standpoint  society  should  aim  to  assist  nature  in  this 
elimination,  by  developing  a  powerful  public  opinion, 
placing  a  virtual  tabu  on  the  marriage  of  persons  phys- 
ically and  mentally  defective,  and  those  afflicted  with 
contagious  sexual  diseases.  Already  public  asylums  seg- 
regate many  defectives  and  prevent  them  from  repro- 
duction, and  if  the  prevalence  of  sexual  diseases  and 
their  possible  consequences  were  better  known,  mar- 
riage would  become  impossible  to  many  immoral  persons. 
If  teachings  of  this  sort  were  made  emphatic,  supported 
by  scientific  evidence,  and  set  before  the  youth  as  embody- 
ing a  standard  demanded  by  the  best  social  influences,  a 
great  forward  step  would  have  been  taken. 

The  Racial  Aspect. — Again,  society  should  develop 
a  system  whereby  the  better  part  of  the  population,  bet- 
ter, i.e.,  in  physique  and  mentality,  would  be  encouraged 
to  marry  and  to  continue  their  stock,  so  that  each  pair 
would  bring  to  maturity  at  least  four  children.  Under 
present  conditions  it  is  estimated  that  two  of  the  four 


INTEMPERANCE  AND  SEXUAL  IMMORALITY     431 

would  die  without  offspring,  so  that,  on  the  average,  popu- 
lation would  remain  static  at  that  rate  of  increase.  It 
is  unfortunate  that  society  finds  it  necessary  to  segregate 
for  war  purposes  so  many  of  its  most  capable  males  in 
the  army  and  navy  with  small  opportunities  for  marriage 
and  home  life;  or  to  approve  a  religious  system  which 
demands  celibacy  from  its  most  consecrated  men  and 
women;  or  an  educational  system  that  insists  on  the 
celibacy  of  its  women  teachers;  or  an  economic  system 
which  necessitates  the  system  of  early  marriages  and  the 
production  of  large  families  among  the  poor  and  un- 
skilled, and  late  and  often  childless  marriages  among  the 
mentally  energetic  classes. 

Evils  from  Celibacy. — Celibacy,  when  practiced  by 
persons  physically  and  mentally  capable  of  marriage  and 
intelligent  parenthood,  is  a  social  misfortune,  and  no 
supposed  benefits  in  religious,  educational,  or  economic 
life  can  usually  counterbalance  such  a  social  enormity. 
Religious,  educational,  and  economic  systems  should  co- 
operate with  evolutionary  processes  in  favoring  the  celi- 
bacy of  the  unfit  and  the  marriage  and  parenthood  of  the 
socially  fit;  any  system  that  works  against  this  principle 
is  prima  facie  wrong;  and,  if  allowed  to  exist,  should 
be  able  to  justify  itself  by  indisputable  evidences  of  larger 
social  gain  to  offset  social  loss.  It  is  doubtful  whether 
such  a  defense  is  possible.  In  addition  to  the  social  loss 
of  a  capable  population,  there  are  many  serious  evils 
involved  in  the  celibacy  of  either  sex.  It  often  results 
in  the  secret  practice  of  masturbation  with  its  conse- 
quent weakening  of  physical,  mental,  and  moral  fiber.  It 
results  in  the  development  of  prostitution  and  immoral 
relationships,  multiplying  disease,  wrecking  homes,  and 
blighting  decency  and  the  nobler  ambitions.     Among  the 


432  SOCIOLOGY 

more  moral  it  often  develops  an  abnormal  condition  of 
mind  by  the  constant  repression  of  natural  feelings,  so 
that  one's  thoughts  may  become  coarsened  by  secretly  and 
almost  unconsciously  dwelling  on  forbidden  aspects  of 
life,  or  by  developing  a  mystical  trend  and  expressing 
sexual  emotions  under  the  form  of  an  abnormal  religious 
or  philanthropic  experience,  manifested  through  some 
form  of  self-renunciation.  It  is  theoretically  possible, 
of  course,  for  celibates  to  remain  normal,  to  shun  evil, 
and  to  perform  much  useful  service  in  the  world.  Cer- 
tainly the  lives  of  many  noble  and  altruistic  men  and 
women  bear  testimony  to  this  fact,  yet  the  question  re- 
mains whether  such  sacrifices  are  really  necessary  and 
whether  conjugal  and  parental  feelings  might  not  better 
be  allowed  proper  expression. 

Society  and  Marriage. — The  celibacy  caused  by 
economic  and  social  standards  affects  proportionately  a 
much  larger  percentage  than  educational  and  religious 
causes ;  and,  being  more  largely  unchecked  by  religious 
and  ethical  idealism,  is  productive  of  great  evil.  Am- 
bitious young  men  who  desire  to  enter  higher  business 
or  professional  life,  are  compelled,  if  they  marry  at  all, 
to  postpone  marriage  until  the  earlier  years  of  middle 
life.  This  practically  means  that  a  similar  number  of 
young  women  of  social  importance  must  delay  their 
marriage  a  proportionate  number  of  years.  Young  men. 
must,  in  consequence  of  this  retardation  of  marriage, 
either  develop  a  high  morality  and  resolutely  maintain 
chastity,  or  else  yield  to  habits  of  masturbation  or  temp- 
tations to  prostitution,  with  their  inevitable  consequences. 
Yet  society,  which  is  definitely  committed  to  a  perma- 
nent monogamous  marriage  and  is  working  toward  a 
standard  of  sexual  ethics  binding  on  both  sexes  alike, 


INTEMPERANCE  AND  SEXUAL  IMMORALITY     433 

neither  sufficiently  provides  youth  with  motives  of  high 
morality  nor  shields  it  effectively  against  insidious  temp- 
tation. Science  would  emphasize  neither  an  immature 
nor  a  late  marriage.  Educational  systems,  therefore, 
economic  incomes,  and  social  opinion  should  combine  to 
make  it  possible  for  marriage  to  take  place  soon  after 
the  completion  of  the  adolescent  period.  Up  to  that 
time  social  effort  should  be  exerted  to  train  young  per- 
sons in  self-control.  Parent  and  teacher  can  do  much 
through  carefully  taught  physiological  knowledge  of 
sexuality,  through  emphasis  on  the  care  of  the  body  and 
instruction  in  dietetics,  and  by  directing  the  surging  pas- 
sions of  adolescence  toward  cultural  ideals  and  higher 
ambitions.  If  habits  of  self-control  are  developed  in 
adolescence,  they  will  be  continued  in  the  marriage  state 
also,  to  the  manifest  improvement  of  conjugal  felicity. 

Changes  Needed  in  Social  Policy. — Such  a  policy 
would  involve  several  important  changes  in  the  present 
system.  In  the  first  place  the  tabu  now  enjoined  on  dis- 
cussion of  sexuality  should  be  removed.  It  is  a  sur- 
vival from  an  age  when  sexual  ignorance  had  a  cash 
value  in  the  marriage  market,  or  when  a  sexual  feeling 
was  thought  to  be  of  satanic  origin,  and  sexuality  an  evil 
to  be  suppressed  by  castration  or  voluntary  celibacy.  It 
is  far  safer  to  take  the  scientific  view,  and  to  assume 
that  sex  passion  is  a  natural  force,  which  ought  to  be 
powerful  so  as  to  ensure  racial  vigor,  but  always  to  in- 
sist that  it  must  be  controlled  and  directed  by  the  higher 
emotions  and  the  intellect.  Then,  too,  children  should 
be  taught  how  to  care  for  the  body  and  how  to  expend 
energy  usefully  in  work,  play,  and  cultural  occupations. 
Young  men,  also,  would  have  far  fewer  temptations  to 
sexual  immorality  if  they  had  simpler  foods,  physical 


434  SOCIOLOGY 

exercise,  an  outdoor  life,  and  the  stimulus  of  aesthetic 
and  intellectual  pursuits.  A  diversity  of  cultural  in- 
terests and  a  knowledge  of  physiology  and  of  the  psychol- 
ogy of  adolescence,^  have  a  highly  moralizing  influence. 
Ignorance  of  the  facts  of  sex  is  one  of  the  great  causes  of 
sexual  immorality  and  indirectly  is  a  chief  cause  of 
marital  discord.  Naturally  such  a  change  in  policy  as 
that  indicated  above  would  need  to  be  supplemented  by 
a  broader  general  education,  so  as  to  make  it  possible 
for  youth  to  develop  many  cultural  interests,  and  to 
enter  economic  life  earlier  and  yet  with  a  wiser  prepara- 
tion and  in  a  better  physical  condition.  Inevitably  the 
State  must  cooperate  by  furnishing  opportunities  for 
cultural  advancement,  by  better  regulation  of  economic 
activities,  and  by  prohibition  of  marriage  for  the  sexually 
degenerate. 

There  is  need  of  a  change  of  belief  in  respect  to  the 
sanctity  of  individual  life.  Every  normal  human  life 
is  sacred  in  its  youth  and  while  it  is  struggling  to  "make 
good."  But  society  owes  nothing  but  life-long  segrega- 
tion or  a  speedy  death  to  those  who  persist  in  degrading 
the  standards  of  social  efficiency  by  their  immorality. 
Sexual  perverts,  both  male  and  female,  should  be  care- 
fully culled  out  of  social  life  and  secluded  permanently, 
so  as  to  prevent  the  continuance  of  their  degenerate  stock. 
No  degenerate  person  has  a  right  to  marry  or  to  become 
a  parent,  for  group  safety  is  more  important  than  an  in- 
dividual's right,  especially  when  he  is  a  pervert.  This 
step  which  now  seems  radical,  will  seem  most  natural 
when  higher  ideals  in  sexual  ethics  shall  have  become  a 
common  possession.     Under  the  influence  of  an  older 

*  See,  e.g.,  G.  Stanley  Hall,  Adolescence,  2  vols.,  and  the  rapidly 
multiplying  literature  in  discussion  of  Freudian  psychology. 


INTEMPERANCE  AND  SEXUAL  IMMORALITY     435 

type  of  religious  teaching,  society  has  too  long  devoted 
itself  to  the  study  of  the  sins  of  individuals,  to  the  neglect 
of  what  is  injurious  or  beneficial  to  society.  The  ethics 
of  the  future  must  pay  far  more  attention  to  the  sins  of 
vicious  groups,  and  to  contaminating  social  conditions, 
at  the  same  time  seeking  to  develop  a  social  conscience 
and  social  standards  of  right  action.  Under  such  a  theory 
society  would  have  the  right  to  insist  that  persons  plainly 
degenerate  must  no  longer  propagate  their  kind,  or  en- 
joy a  freedom  for  which  they  have  proved  unfit. 

Effects  of  Economic  Conditions. — It  is  needless  to  say 
that  economic  conditions  have  a  large  share  in  sexual  vice. 
The  conditions  of  a  poverty-stricken  proletariat  drive 
many  women  into  immorality  for  the  sake  of  economic 
support.  The  ideals  of  virtue  and  chastity  lose  their  at- 
tractiveness in  the  face  of  starvation.  A  closely  packed 
population  of  both  sexes  in  tenement,  shop,  and  mill, 
forms  a  condition  in  which  the  only  wonder  is  that  there 
is  comparatively  so  little  immorality  and  so  much  femi- 
nine refinement  as  there  is.  Another  effect  of  vicious  eco- 
nomic conditions  is  evident  when  young  men  of  inherited 
wealth  and  few  morals  are  turned  loose  in  society  to  prey 
upon  the  weak  or  to  become  victims  of  the  designing.  A 
disbelief  in  the  utility  of  the  crop  raised  from  "wild  oats" 
is  rapidly  growing;  and  parents  incapable  of  training 
their  children  for  social  morality  and  utility  should  trans- 
fer them  to  the  compulsory  industrial  school.  The  lesson 
contained  in  Kipling's  Captains  Courageous  is  one  well 
worth  the  consideration  of  fond  but  foolish  parents. 

Responsibilities  of  Medical  Science. — It  goes  without 
saying  that  medical  science  also  has  its  constructive  work.* 

*  Note,  for  example,  P.  A.  Morrow,  Social  Disease  and  Mar- 
riage. 


436  SOCIOLOGY 

If  sexual  diseases  afflicted  the  immoral  only,  it  might  seem 
but  fair  retribution;  but  unfortunately,  being  contagious, 
the  innocent  suffer  with  the  guilty,  a  suffering  not  simply 
physical  but  mental,  because  of  the  implied  suspicion  of 
immoral  conduct.  Gonorrhea,  as  is  well  known,  is  re- 
sponsible for  most  cases  of  those  blind  from  infancy  and 
is  a  frequent  cause  of  sterility.  Often  sexually  diseased 
men  are  so  low  morally  as  to  marry  innocent  women,  who 
by  contagion  become  syphilitic  and  pass  on  the  taint  to 
their  children.  Such  men  deserve  the  lash.  Persons  in 
such  condition  should  refrain  from  marriage  altogether 
and  thus  end  their  stock,  and  this  should  be  true  even 
though  apparently  cured  by  modern  remedies.  Along 
with  the  elimination  of  the  perverse  should  go  the  elimi- 
nation of  these  most  loathsome  and  widespread  of  dis- 
eases. These  should  receive  special  investigation  and  their 
victims  be  detained  in  hospitals  for  contagious  diseases.  It 
is  an  imperative  necessity  that  humanity  rid  itself  as  soon 
as  possible  of  this  most  serious  physical  and  moral  handi- 
cap, sexual  immorality  and  venereal  disease,  which  at 
present  drags  back  some  of  the  best  products  of  our  civ- 
ilization toward  the  profligate  conditions  which  existed  in 
the  ancient  world. 

Women's  Influence. — Too  often  in  current  discus- 
sion it  is  tacitly  assumed  that  the  remedy  for  sexual  evils 
depends  on  the  attitude  of  the  male  part  of  humanity,  and 
under  present  social  conditions  there  is  much  truth  in  this. 
Yet  it  is  probable  that  the  remedy  ultimately  will  come 
from  the  sex  most  vitally  concerned — the  female,  upon 
whom  falls  the  burden  of  gestation,  the  danger  and  pain 
of  delivery,  and  the  toil  and  responsibility  of  nurture. 
Only  the  ignorance  of  barbarism,  seconded  by  unregulated 
male  passions,  could  have  developed  the  theory  that  in  sex- 


INTEMPERANCE  AND  SEXUAL  IMMORALITY     437 

ual  relations  the  woman  must  be  submissive  to  her  hus- 
band In  marriage,  and  out  of  marriage  subject  to  male 
regulation.  By  analogy  from  the  animal  world,  and  by 
even  a  modicum  of  reflection,  it  should  be  manifest  that 
in  the  field  of  sexual  ethics  the  woman,  and  not  the  man, 
should  dictate.  As  long  as  patriarchal  conditions  lasted 
and  women  were  kept  In  ignorance,  as  playthings  and 
drudges  to  their  lords  and  masters,  rebellion  of  any  sort 
was  promptly  repressed  by  physical  punishment,  and  by 
the  terrors  of  church  and  state.  But  the  coming  of  de- 
mocracy, along  with  economic  flexibility  and  freedom, 
has  put  a  different  face  on  the  matter.  The  marriage 
of  barter  and  sale,  though  still  common  enough,  is  con- 
ventionally frowned  on,  and  society  demands  that,  in 
appearance  at  least,  love  and  voluntary  consent  be  the 
basis  of  marriage.  Through  economic  and  educational 
changes  women  are  becoming  free,  and  are  less  and  less 
inclined,  as  they  become  intelligent  on  the  subject,  to 
marry  merely  for  the  sake  of  a  home  and  support.  It 
has  become  essential  that  women  have  such  training  and 
opportunity  that,  as  an  alternative  to  an  economic  mar- 
riage, they  may  be  able  to  enter  economic  life  and  support 
themselves.  It  is  not  likely  that  many  women  would 
prefer  an  economic  occupation  to  a  marriage  on  the 
basis  of  mutual  love  and  domestic  happiness,  but  every 
intelligent  woman  should  prefer  to  enter  economic  life 
and  refrain  from  marriage,  if  the  basis  of  it  is  sexual 
subordination,  physical  degeneracy,  and  domestic  in- 
felicity. In  other  words,  woman  through  modern  free- 
dom is  developing  personality  and  self-respect,  and  de- 
sires to  maintain  and  to  strengthen  these  in  marriage, 
not  to  lose  them. 


438  SOCIOLOGY 

The  Marriage  Relation. — The  discoveries  of 
science  also  corroborate  this  view  of  marriage.  The 
phenomenon  of  "falling  in  love"  implies  an  intuitive  rec- 
ognition of  essential  likeness  of  type,  though  there  are 
often  differences  in  detail.  If  there  is  also  a  mutual  rec- 
ognition of  suitable  moral  and  mental  qualities,  and  a  gen- 
eral harmony  of  social  attainment,  the  proper  conditions 
for  marriage  are  present.  A  woman  intuitively  knows 
that  such  a  marriage  would  bring  her  happiness,  and  that 
any  other  kind  would  be  "with  risk."  Increasingly,  there- 
fore, a  woman  as  she  becomes  intelligently  trained  and 
developed  in  personality,  will  demand  sexual  morality 
and  self-control  from  her  suitor  and  husband,  and  should 
have  the  right  of  divorce  as  a  guaranty  against  deception 
or  brutality.  This  Implies  that  the  truest  and  noblest 
women  will  mate  only  with  similar  men,  and  by  social 
imitation  the  prestige  of  an  elite  will  create  similar  de- 
mands in  every  social  class.  When  women  see  that  the 
real  happiness  of  marriage  is  dependent  on  a  radical  up- 
building of  male  sexual  ethical  standards,  they  will  be- 
gin definitely  to  war  against  conditions  that  promote  Im- 
morality, to  educate  their  sons  to  as  high  standards  as 
their  daughters,  and  to  Insist  that  in  all  relationships  that 
involve  sexuality  the  male  shall  supplicate  and  the  female 
dictate  terms.  While  the  male  has  stronger  sexual  in- 
stincts, he  also  has,  by  his  own  admission,  a  more  power- 
ful intellect,  and  hence  should  readily  be  able  to  regulate 
his  passions  in  order  to  attain  the  higher  end  of  con- 
jugal happiness  and  capable  offspring.  Science  and  ex- 
perience unite  in  teaching  that  If  a  girl  can  be  trained  to 
abhor  sexual  immorality  and  drunkenness,  a  boy,  with  his 
supposedly  more  vigorous  personality  and  mentality,  can 
be  trained  to  be  chaste,  and  to  be  capable  of  controlling 


INTEMPERANCE  AND  SEXUAL  IMMORALITY     439 

bodily  appetites,  so  as  to  utilize  his  bodily  and  mental 
vigor  in  socially  advantageous  directions.  Parents  and 
teachers  should,  however,  not  err  in  concluding  that  in- 
tellectual knowledge  is  alone  sufficient.  Education  should 
devote  vastly  more  attention  than  at  present  to  the  feel- 
ings. The  higher  emotions  can  be  developed  by  arousing 
cultural  ideals,  which  absorb  attention  and  divert  energy 
from  physical  appetites. 

The  Distinctions  of  Sex. — Society  errs  in  empha- 
sizing overmuch  the  difference  between  male  and  female; 
there  is  a  proper  distinction,  and  the  terms  manly  and 
womanly  should  always  connote  a  natural  and  fundamen- 
tal distinction  between  the  sexes.  Yet  the  harem-like  se- 
clusion of  woman  and  her  timid  dependency  on  the  male 
are  rapidly  passing  as  the  sexes  mingle  in  the  home  circle, 
in  educational  and  economic  competition,  and  in  the  free 
social  life  of  the  times.  The  sexes  inevitably  will  ap- 
proximate nearer  to  a  common  type  in  cultural  attain- 
ment, though  kept  different  by  biological  and  psycholog- 
ical differentiation  and  functions.  After  all,  aside  from 
these  differences,  there  is  no  sharp  distinction  between 
the  masculine  and  feminine.  Every  man  has  a  mother  and 
inherits  from  her,  just  as  every  woman  inherits  certain 
characteristics  from  her  father.  The  extremes  of  male  and 
female  are  far  apart,  yet,  as  the  average  is  approached, 
masculine  and  feminine  traits  are  not  so  different  but  that 
there  may  be  many  real  harmonies  in  ideals,  standards, 
and  ambitions.' 

While,  therefore,  biological  differences  will  probably 
always  result  in  mental  differences,  the  fundamental  like- 
ness of  a  mentality  inherited  from  a  common  racial  stock, 

•  For  a  short,  interesting  book  on  this  topic,  see  C.  G.  Leland, 
The  Alternate  Sex. 


440  SOCIOLOGY 

will  form  the  basis  for  harmony  of  purpose,  and  the  dis- 
tinctions due  to  sex  and  to  differences  in  training  will 
supply  supplementary  and  mutually  attractive  traits.  As 
newer  psychological  discoveries  become  part  of  education, 
attempts  will  be  made  definitely  to  develop  qualities  now 
lacking,  so  that  mating  may  be  based  on  scientific  insight 
as  well  as  on  biological  instinct  and  psychic  attraction. 
When  general  knowledge  is  shared  by  both  sexes  alike, 
and  racial  ideals  and  ethical  standards  influence  the  pur- 
poses of  both,  they  will  plan  unitedly  for  the  final  elimi- 
nation of  the  demoralizing  conditions  now  so  rife  through 
sexual  profligacy.  Experience  shows  that  if  ever  the 
elite,  fortified  by  scientific  teachings,  and  animated  by  a 
hatred  of  vice  and  a  love  of  purity,  take  a  determined 
stand  against  the  present  low  standards  of  sexual  ethics, 
the  mass  of  the  population,  by  social  imitation  and  by 
education,  will  conform,  as  a  matter  of  course,  to  the 
standards  set  by  social  leadership. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

RACIAL    FACTORS  ^    IN    SOCIAL    PROGRESS 

Human  Origins. — The  question  as  to  the  origin  of 
man  is  anthropological,  not  sociological.  Not  until  man- 
kind had  emerged  from  animal  conditions,  spread  into 
the  natural  food  centers  of  earth,  and  developed  a  group 
life  with  its  achievement  and  civilization  can  sociolog- 
ical investigations  begin.  Ancient  and  classical  tradi- 
tions of  human  origins  have,  to  be  sure,  had  their  in- 
fluence on  social  policies,  as  for  example,  in  the  Hebraic 
account  of  human  creation,  and  the  "natural  state"  of  the 
social  contract  theories,  but  modern  teachings  based  on 
ethnography  are  still  unable  to  decide  between  the  mono- 
genetic  or  the  poly  genetic  theories  of  the  origin  of  the 
human  race,  although  the  consensus  of  opinion  points  in 
the  former  direction.  Naturally,  theories  of  racial  equal- 
ity would  be  strengthened  by  the  general  acceptance  of 
the  monogenetic  theory,  whereas  the  teaching  of  inherent 
racial  superiority  and  inferiority  would  receive  support 
from  the  rival  theory. 

Racial  Differences. — If  one  disregards  the  question 
of  human  origin,  admittedly  there  are  to-day  races  su- 
perior to  others  in  achievement,  just  as  many  individuals 
of  a  race  surpass  others  in  capacity  and  attainment.  The 
real  question,  however,  is,  whether  such  distinctions  are 

*  For  an  excellent  sociological  study  of  races,  see  Wm.  Z.  Ripley, 
The  Races  of  Europe. 

iUI 


442  SOCIOLOGY 

inherent  in  the  stock,  or  traceable  to  the  effects  of  condi- 
tions, that  if  reversed,  would  within  a  few  centuries  re- 
verse the  place  of  higher  and  lower  races.  Or,  from 
another  standpoint,  can  the  so-called  inferior  races  be 
developed  after  a  proper  period  of  time  to  the  same 
degree  of  attainment  as  their  more  fortunate  competitors? 
Presumably,  it  may  be  assumed  that  in  the  beginnings  of 
human  life  and  under  the  determining  influences  of  a 
tropical  or  subtropical  climate,  human  groups  must  have 
been  relatively  equal.  To  this  extent  the  teaching  of  the 
equality  of  man  in  the  Eighteenth  Century  had  a  solid 
basis  in  fact.  When,  however,  owing  to  multiplying 
population  and  relatively  decreasing  food  supplies,  men 
wandered  into  various  parts  of  the  earth  differences 
slowly  developed.  In  the  more  favored  places  where 
foods  were  abundant  and  population  denser,  the  slow 
lapse  of  many  centuries  gave  their  inhabitants  an  advan- 
tage in  physique  and  mentality,  which  was  strengthened 
by  repeated  amalgamations,  minglings  of  differing  varie- 
ties of  civilization,  and  the  stimulus  of  war  and  economic 
competition.  The  great  races  surviving  to-day  are  those 
who  on  the  basis  of  such  conditions  have  fought  their 
way  to  the  front,  and  who  regularly  display  an  aggres- 
siveness lacking  in  the  smaller  races,  which  have  shunned 
war  by  ready  submission  or  by  flight  to  remote  regions 
where  they  found  a  wretched  but  peaceful  existence. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  superior  race,  presumably,  is  so 
in  a  part  of  its  population  only  and  a  small  part  at  that. 
The  average  mass  of  a  population  becomes  great  under 
efficient  leadership,  not  through  inherent  capacity,  so  that 
a  serious  defeat  depriv  !ng  a  race  of  its  former  leaders  and 
its  prestige  and  initiative,  may  handicap  it  for  generations, 
until  new  conditions  create  new  opportunities  and  develop 


RACIAL  FACTORS  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS       443 

a  fitting  leadership  from  the  ranks  of  the  more  capable 
stocks.  Nor,  again,  should  it  be  assumed  that  there  are 
characteristics  inherent  in  a  given  superior  race  that  mark 
it  off  as  decidedly  different  from  its  rivals.  The  funda- 
mentals for  success  are  not  inherent  in  racial  or  national 
nature,  but  in  human  nature  itself.  What  seem  to  be  na- 
tional or  racial  peculiarities  of  character  are  presumably 
due  to  social  heredity  and  are  developed  through  contact 
with  a  social  environment  which  has  been  standardized  by 
tradition  and  customs.  National  character  changes  with 
the  centuries  because  the  times  change  also.  It  would 
be  impossible  for  a  national  character  to  remain  the  same 
through  a  thousand  years  of  history,  if  during  that  time 
national  life  passed  from  a  farming  to  a  commercial  man- 
ufacturing type,  or  from  isolation  to  world  contact.  Again, 
racial  differences  are  not  so  much  physical  as  psychical. 
The  leading  classes  of  superior  races  have  a  real  advan- 
tage over  others  in  the  development  and  quality  of  ner- 
vous organization  and  this  certainly  should  be  true,  if 
racial  experience  counts  for  anything.  For  they  have  built 
up  through  selective  processes  an  economic  capacity  for 
patient  labor,  foresight,  and  ingenuity,  and  through  war 
and  economic  competition  they  have  developed  individual 
bravery,  energy,  and  self-reliance.  They  show,  further- 
more, in  their  activities  a  virility  and  a  capacity  for  en- 
durance that  plainly  mark  a  higher  attainment  than  that 
made  by  the  aimless,  indolent,  and  hopeless  masses  of  in- 
ferior civilizations.  Under  genetic  development  these  in- 
ferior races  in  their  secluded  homes  may  remain  station- 
ary for  centuries,  but  whenever  they  come  in  contact  with 
a  superior  race,  they  are  either  largely  exterminated  in 
war  or  through  inability  to  adjust  themselves  to  newer 


444  SOCIOLOGY 

conditions,  or  they  cannot  withstand  the  vices  and  diseases 
of  stronger  races. 

The  Relation  of  the  Superior  to  the  Inferior. — If 
the  superior  races  should  ever  recognize  an  altruistic  ob- 
ligation to  raise  the  standards  of  civilization  of  these 
backward  stocks,  through  a  possible  system  of  manda- 
taries, unquestionably  much  could  be  accomplished,  pro- 
vided that  the  principles  of  racial  development  were  fol- 
lowed. It  is  practically  impossible,  for  example,  to  sub- 
stitute outright  a  higher  for  a  lower  civilization.  A 
higher  may  only  be  developed  from  the  lower  by  expedit- 
ing through  telic  processes  the  natural  method  of  growth. 
Now,  genetic  growth  is  at  its  best  when  there  are  con- 
tacts with  other  groups,  involving  the  processes  of  amal- 
gamation and  assimilation.  Assimilation  should  result 
in  economic  stimulus  and  achievement  and  in  social  imi- 
tation of  the  cultural  elements  of  a  higher  civilization. 
In  .changing  from  genetic  to  telic  growth  most  emphasis 
needs  to  be  placed  on  economic  changes.  It  is  useless  to 
press  on  a  race  or  a  social  class  a  higher  cultural  civiliza- 
tion than  that  suited  to  its  material  attainment.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  is  doubtful  whether  a  simple  and  inferior 
race  can  adopt  a  higher  economic  system,  in  place  of  a 
lower,  except  after  centuries  of  training.  A  race  that  in 
its  experience  lacks  the  education  imparted  by  an  agri- 
cultural civilization,  may,  for  example,  find  it  well-nigh 
impossible  to  pass  at  a  bound  from  a  hunting  or  nomadic 
stage  to  a  complex  system  of  trades  and  manufactures. 
Add  to  that  the  benefit  that  supposedly  arises  from  re- 
peated racial  amalgamation,  and  it  is  hard  to  believe  that 
a  really  simple  race,  still,  in  primitive  conditions,  could 
endure  the  vigorous  strain  of  modem  civilization,  ex- 
cept after  centuries  of  training  and  racial  mixture.    Even 


RACIAL  FACTORS  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS       445 

if  this  were  done,  there  is  still  the  probability  that  the 
superior  races  would  themselves  continue  to  progress, 
and  might  even  increase  the  distance  in  attainment  be- 
tween them  and  their  weaker  racial  companions. 

The  Influence  of  Missions. — These  principles  find 
frequent  illustrations  in  missionary  enterprise.  Chris- 
tianity is  a  religion  suited  to  a  civilization  of  a  high  grade, 
but  in  order  to  be  successfully  propagated  among  an  in- 
ferior race  of  alien  religion,  it  must  either  seek  to  revo- 
lutionize the  entire  civilization  by  emphasis  on  advanta- 
geous economic  and  educational  agencies,  or  it  must  adapt 
itself  to  lower  conditions  and  become  a  mongrel  religion, 
Christian  in  form  but  heathen  in  spirit.  For  this  reason 
Mohammedanism  and  Catholicism,  because  of  their  em- 
phasis on  form  and  institutionalism,  are  more  successful 
as  proselytizing  religions  among  inferior  races  than  Prot- 
estantism, which  inclines  to  demand  individualistic  and 
intellectual  qualifications.  When  Protestantism  makes 
progress  among  inferior  races,  it  does  so  by  furnishing 
in  addition  to  religious  teachings  the  arts  of  modern  in- 
dustry and  the  elements  of  cultural  civilization,  or  else 
it  eliminates  intellectual  elements  as  much  as  possible 
and  emphasizes  emotionalism.  Hence,  if  Protestantism, 
in  its  missionary  activities  among  low  races,  insists  on 
the  adoption  of  its  high  standards  of  ethics  and  doctrine, 
progress  is  slow,  since  few  can  be  persuaded  to  withdraw 
themselves  from  the  sympathetic  ties  binding  them  to  the 
mass  of  their  own  people.  Even  if  Protestantism  is  suc- 
cessful it  brings  in  its  train,  through  trade  and  commerce, 
contact  with  an  intense  civilization,  and  the  influx  of 
newer  vices  and  diseases  from  this  source  tends  to  sap  the 
energy  of  the  native  stock,  which,  losing  confidence  in 
its  former  standards  and  attainments  and  finding  no  rea- 


446  ,  SOCIOLOGY 

son  for  its  existence,  wastes  away  in  a  forced  civilization. 
For  such  reasons  it  is  not  possible  that  the  weakest  races 
can  permanently  survive.  They  will  melt  away  before 
a  civilization  which  is  too  fierce  and  competitive  for  their 
capacity,  but  adaptive  individuals  from  them  will  presum- 
ably pass  upwards  by  the  usual  processes  into  the  su- 
perior stock,  and  become  merged  in  the  larger  civiliza- 
tion. 

Racial  Competition, — In  addition  to  these  weaker 
stocks  there  are  many-  racial  groups  that  represent  power- 
ful races  beaten  in  military  or  economic  struggle  and  yet 
mentally  capable.  These  may  in  later  years,  should  they 
cherish  their  national  and  racial  ideals,  again  have  their 
opportunity  and  become  powerful  once  more,  or  else, 
yielding  slowly  to  the  pressure  of  their  environment  they 
may  become  absorbed  into  the  more  powerful  stocks  near 
them,  the  ease  of  the  amalgamation  being  determined 
by  their  relative  similarity  in  civilization  and  racial  stock 
and  by  the  harsh  or  conciliatory  policy  of  their  neigh- 
bors. All  of  the  great  nations  of  the  day  in  their  racial 
composition  show  this  process  of  amalgamation,  from  the 
polyglot  populations  of  the  Danube  where  assimilation  is 
still  imperfect,  to  France  where  the  process  of  amalgama- 
tion is  much  further  advanced. 

Great  nationalities  themselves  are  under  the  law  of 
competition,  and  success  in  the  maintenance  of  national 
integrity  lies  on  the  side  of  effective  organization,  science, 
and  financial  capacity.  Hence  international  rivalry  is 
fought  out  by  economic  methods,  through  competing 
financial  systems,  through  manufacturing  and  commercial 
struggles  for  supremacy,  and  through  effectiveness  in  gov- 
ernmental organization,  alliances  and  through  the  ideal- 
ism of  national  traditions,  war  coming  in  at  the  end  as  a 


RACIAL  FACTORS  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS       447 

sort  of  coup  de  grace.  The  final  loser  in  the  struggle 
sinks  from  its  position  as  a  world  power,  and  loses  its 
racial  and  economic  importance.  A  part  of  the  popula- 
tion may  degenerate  through  impoverishment,  others  will 
migrate  and  become  absorbed  into  other  racial  stocks,  and 
the  better  classes  will  restrict  the  number  of  their  off- 
spring and  slowly  die  out  by  what  Dr.  Ross  aptly  calls 
"race  suicide."  The  kaleidoscopic  changes  of  political 
conditions  sometimes  permit  of  a  fresh  start  after  a  gen- 
eration or  two  of  defeat,  but  otherwise  the  race  as  a  whole 
tends  to  sink  back  in  importance  and  awaits  its  fate  of 
ultimate  absorption  into  one  of  the  future  racial  sur- 
vivors in  international  competition. 

Human  Amalgamation. — Another  question  of  in- 
terest arises  in  respect  to  the  few  really  superior  racial 
stocks  in  existence,  such  as  the  Teutonic,  the  Slavic,  and 
the  Mongolian.  Will  these  finally  amalgamate  or  will 
the  old  genetic  process  of  racial  warfare  and  extermina- 
tion be  permanently  continued  on  a  world  scale?  The 
question  is  purely  academic,  but  ultimately  the  sociolog- 
ical theorist  would  say,  there  will  be  but  one  human  race ; 
complete  amalgamation  will  have  taken  place,  even  though 
the  process  may  not  be  finished  for  a  million  years.  Nat- 
urally no  one  can  foretell  whether  that  ultimate  blend 
will  be  predominantly  white  or  black,  or  yellow,  or 
whether  one  of  the  strains  may  not  disappear  in  the 
process,  for  survival  will  not  be  determined  wholly  by 
superiority  of  civilization. 

This  is  of  great  importance  in  giving  a  nation  a  basis 
on  which  it  may  push  to  the  front  and  even  hold  suprem- 
acy for  generations.  But  civilization  is  transmittable  by 
social  imitation,  conscious  or  unconscious,  and  under 
modern  conditions  the  attainment  of  each  nation  readily 


448  SOCIOLOGY 

passes  to  other  capable  nations  who  may  absorb  and 
utiHze  effectively  the  achievements  of  their  rivals,  as  il- 
lustrated in  recent  Japanese  history. 

The  high  economic  standards  of  an  advanced  race  may 
even  count  against  it  when  in  competition  with  a  race 
of  lower  economic  standards  but  of  similar  capacity  for 
achievement.  For,  nations  of  high  economic  standards 
tend  to  have  low  birth  rates  and  numerically  to  fall  behind 
and  in  the  long  run,  numbers  count  in  racial  competition. 
In  the  final  amalgamation  of  the  human  race,  therefore, 
it  may  be  possible  that  the  white  stock  will  not  survive. 
By  raising  its  standards  of  living,  and  at  the  same  time 
sharing  the  achievements  of  its  civilization  with  those  who 
will  later  he  its  rivals,  it  may  die  out  in  racial  stock  even 
while  its  civilization  survives.  This  process  finds  illus- 
tration in  Latin  x\merica,  where  a  Romance  stock  is  pass- 
ing on  its  civilization  to  a  native  stock,  but  is  itself  being 
absorbed  by  the  very  races  it  conquered.  England  meets 
the  problem  in  India  by  endeavoring  to  transmit  its  civili- 
zation to  the  native  but  shunning  amalgamation,  just  as  in 
the  United  States  the  whites  in  the  South  do  not  amalga- 
mate with  the  blacks  to  any  appreciable  extent,  but  yet 
impart  to  them  their  civilization.  In  general  it  may  be 
said  that  the  Teutonic  and  Slavic  stocks  do  not  readily 
amalgamate  with  other  racial  stocks  such  as  the  Negro 
or  the  Mongolian,  or  even  with  the  Romance  nations  of 
Europe;  but  that  these,  on  the  other  hand,  amalgamate 
freely  with  any  race  with  which  they  happen  to  be  in  con- 
tact. 

Racial  Survival. — A  strong  stock  intuitively  strives 
to  perpetuate  itself,  and  hence  dreads  an  excess  of  racial 
intermixture.  Yet  an  immense  population  like  that  of 
China,  with  its  intense  self -centered  civilization,  might 


RACIAL  FACTORS  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS       449 

spread  In  all  directions  absorbing  numerically  weaker 
stocks,  and  yet  after  a  few  centuries  hardly  be  affected 
by  the  admixture  of  races,  even  though  a  large  propor- 
tion were  inferior.  In  the  United  States  the  numerous 
and  aggressive  population  can  readily  absorb  the  rem- 
nants of  the  Indian  tribes,  a  process  exemplified  to-day  in 
Oklahoma.  Nor  does  it  hesitate  to  amalgamate  with 
large  fragments  of  Germanic  and  Celtic  stock,  kindred 
in  blood,  trusting  to  the  passing  of  centuries  to  obliterate 
minor  distinctions.  Doubt  comes  when  the  process  in- 
volves an  amalgamation  with  millions  of  similar  stock, 
Romance  and  Slavic,  but  of  dissimilar  civilization.  This 
doubt  becomes  a  serious  protest  at  the  thought  of  amal- 
gamating with  millions  of  lower  stock  and  lower  civiliza- 
tions, as  in  the  case  of  the  Negro,  or  when  there  threat- 
ens an  influx  of  a  numerous  and  powerful  rival  racial 
stock,  as,  for  instance,  from  Asia. 

Evils  in  Amalgamation. — These  doubts,  well 
founded  in  racial  intuition,  are  fortified  by  reason.  A 
vigorous  racial  stock  makes  no  mistake  in  amalgamating 
with  a  similar  stock  of  similar  cultural  development;  the 
resultant  is  regularly  better  than  the  component  parts. 
Even  if  the  smaller  is  absorbed  by  the  larger,  there  is 
compensation  for  the  loss  of  racial  differentiation  in  the 
gain  in  individual  capacity.  If,  however,  higher  and 
lower  races  are  artificially  united  under  the  forms  of 
a  common  civilization,  the  consequences  are  both  good 
and  bad.  The  lower  will  inevitably  become  "hewers  of 
wood  and  drawers  of  water"  for  the  higher,  i.e.,  they  will 
do  the  unskilled  and  tiresome  labor  of  the  community; 
their  weaker  members  will  fall  into  vice,  crime,  and  pau- 
perism under  the  stress  of  a  low  economic  life,  while  the 
stronger  part  of  the  stock  will  be  stimulated  by  contact 


450  SOCIOLOGY 

with  thp  higher  civiHzation,  and  will  move  up  in  the 
social  scale,  ultimately  amalgamating  with  their  superiors. 

Under  such  conditions  oftentimes  the  weaker  members 
of  the  higher  stock,  brought  into  competition  with  the 
better  members  of  the  lower  stock,  degenerate.  Others, 
under  the  influence  of  a  class  morality,  seeing  about  them 
members  of  an  alien  and  lower  class,  exploit  them  eco- 
nomically, or  gratify  sexual  passion  by  immoral  relations 
with  women  of  the  lower  stock,  thereby  lowering  the 
standards  of  their  own  race.  The  better  members  of  the 
higher  stock,  finding  competition  keener  and  more  un- 
scrupulous than  formerly,  tend  to  develop  for  self -protec- 
tion a  class  exclusiveness,  and  under  the  conditions, 
through  inbreeding  and  race  suicide,  each  generation  pro- 
duces fewer  and  weaker  children  until  as  a  class  they  dis- 
appear. This  is  the  natural  and  genetic  process,  easily 
traceable  in  social  history,  and  on  the  whole  disastrous 
to  social  welfare  and  race  survival.  For  it  means  that 
the  better  elements  in  a  race  die  out,  their  ranks  are  re- 
cruited from  the  more  capable  members  of  presumably 
inferior  stocks,  class  distinctions  become  inevitable,  and 
at  the  bottom  of  the  social  system  is  a  mass  of  unskilled 
workers,  of  relatively  low  grade,  struggling  against  the 
misery  inevitable  in  that  low  economic  stage  of  exist- 
ence. Whatever  advantage  may  come  from  the  wealth 
produced  by  those  of  lower  standards  is  probably  more 
than  offset  by  the  consequent  depression  of  the  standards 
of  the  other  economic  classes  and  the  diminished  fertility 
of  the  dominant  stock. 

American  Racial  Problems. — It  is  probable  that  if 
the  intruding  stock  were  similar  in  race  but  inferior  in 
civilization,  the  evils  could  be  largely  eliminated  by  wise 
telic  action.  If,  for  example,  the  United  States  of  America 


RACIAL  FACTORS  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS       451 

restricted  the  privilege  of  immigation.  to  a  relatively 
small  number  of  assimilable  stocks,  healthy  and  moral, 
and  if  these  were  guided  to  sections  of  the  country  in 
need  of  their  services,  and  surrounded  by  social  agencies 
aiming  to  impart  to  them  the  language  and  ideals  of 
American  civilization,  safeguarding  them  against  exploi- 
tation and  temptations  to  immorality  and  crime  until  they 
had  become  used  to  American  standards,  unquestionably 
the  chief  evils  of  the  present  system  would  be  minimized, 
and  racial  amalgamation  rendered  easy.  It  is  suicidal, 
however,  to  admit  within  the  national  borders  members 
of  alien  races  unless  it  is  clear  that  beneficial  results  will 
follow  from  racial  amalgamation  in  connection  with  an  as- 
similation of  civilizations. 

Under  present  conditions,  however,  the  racial  problem 
within  the  United  States  is  exceedingly  complex  and  one. 
may  well  despair  of  any  immediate  solution.  Had  telic 
foresight  characterized  our  civilization  throughout  the 
Nineteenth  Century  we  might  have  avoided  our  worst 
problems  by  checking  the  importation  and  multiplication 
of  the  Negro,  and  by  reducing  to  a  minimum  the  immi- 
gration of  unassimilable  races,  as  was  done  in  fact  with 
immigration  from  Asia.  Failing  in  such  a  policy,  we 
have  a  natural  genetic  development :  the  higher  native 
racial  stock  commits  race  suicide  through  late  marriages 
followed  by  the  birth  of  few  or  no  children.  Others 
amalgamate  with  the  better  elements  of  the  immigrant 
races,  thus  causing  a  racial  modification,  and  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  scale  are  those  of  native  stock  who  are  unable 
to  maintain  their  standards  of  living  in  competition  with 
immigrants  of  lower  standards.  This  backward  and  de- 
generate stock  becomes  secluded  in  isolated  valley  or 
mountain  regions  or  else  falls  into  the  ranks  of  the  un- 


452  SOCIOLOGY 

skilled  proletariat  made  up  largely  of  alien  races,  from 
which  arises,  through  low  economic  conditions,  much  of 
the  pauperism,  vice,  and  crime  of  our  civilization.  Down 
to  the  year  19 14  our  population,  rapidly  multiplying  and 
constantly  recruited  by  additions  from  southern  Europe 
and  western  Asia,  was  manifesting  all  the  evils  arising 
from  such  a  racial  admixture.  Race  suicide  was  press- 
ing lower  and  lower  into  the  middle  class,  amalgamation 
processes  were  at  work  as  shown  by  the  steadily  rising 
percentages  of  Americans  of  mixed  blood,  and  the  evils 
involved  through  the  presence  of  a  toiling  low-wage  earn- 
ing proletariat  were  manifest  in  the  development  of  rap- 
idly multiplying  slums  and  crowded  tenement  sections 
with  their  inevitable  evils. 

The  Great  War  with  its  unprecedented  demand  for  la- 
bor temporarily  checked  this  tendency.  Immigration  fell 
off,  great  numbers  of  immigrant  males  returned  home  for 
army  service  and  the  country  as  a  whole,  becoming  an 
armed  camp,  was  searched  from  end  to  end  .for  civilian 
labor,  resulting  in  rapid  movements  of  population,  stim- 
ulated by  the  higher  wage,  and  the  draining  of  congested 
labor  centers  to  localities  competing  for  employees. 
Should  similar  conditions  hold  good  for  another  genera- 
tion it  might  not  prove  to  be  an  unmixed  evil.  It  is  pos- 
sible that  European  nations  may  prefer  to  hold  on  to  their 
populations,  tempting  them  to  remain  through  democratic 
conditions  and  the  ownership  of  land.  Nationally  there 
is  no  question  that  the  United  States  is  irrevocably  com- 
mitted to  the  policy  of  the  exclusion  of  Asiatic  immigra- 
tion, and  of  African  also,  should  that  tend  tg  become  large 
in  amount.  The  inevitable  effect  of  such  conditions 
would  be  a  stimulus  to  earlier  marriages  and  away  from 
race  suicide,  resulting  in  a  more  rapid  assimilation  and 


RACIAL  FACTORS  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS       453 

amalgamation  of  the  native  and  racial  stocks  within  the 
national  borders.  The  many  movements  aiming  at  Amer- 
icanization are  illustrative  of  this  tendency,  and  the  whole 
movement,  assuming  national  prosperity,  should  result  in 
greatly  improved  conditions  for  the  poorer  whites  and 
the  blacks  of  the  South,  and  the  breaking  up  of  racial 
groupings  within  our  crowded  cities. 

Eugenics. — Historically  there  have  been  many  sug- 
gestions as  to  the  possibility  of  strengthening  racial  vigor. 
A  favorite  proposition  even  yet  is  that  made  by  Plato  in 
his  Republic  and  Laws.  It  assumes  that  the  laws  of 
heredity  are  so  little  known  that  society  is  unable  to  assert 
dogmatic  conclusions  in  respect  to  the  production  of  a 
superior  stock  and  yet  that  within  a  given  race  there  are 
superior  and  inferior  grades.  Society,  therefore,  he  ar- 
gued, might  better  assume  that  all  persons  potentially  are 
capable  of  high  development,  and  should  be  given,  through 
wise  education,  an  opportunity  for  it.  Then,  when  the 
quality  of  its  various  members  is  manifest,  society  should 
endeavor  to  build  up  its  stock  from  the  capable  and  to 
place  handicaps  on  the  weaker  members  of  society,  so  as 
to  prevent  them,  if  possible,  from  unduly  propagating 
their  kind. 

Another  solution  is  that  suggested  in  recent  years  by 
Francis  Galton  under  the  name  of  Eugenics.^  In  brief, 
his  theory  is  that  careful  study  should  be  made  of  the 
conditions  and  principles  underlying  the  production  of  a 
vigorous  racial  stock,  that  this  information  be  taught  as 
widely  as  possible,  emphasized  as  a  part  of  the  morality 

'  The  original  papers  on  Eugenics  by  Francis  Galton,  and  the 
discussion  of  them,  may  be  found  in  the  Sociological  Papers,  pub- 
lished by  the  English  Sociological  Society,  1904,  1905.  The  Ameri- 
can Journal  of  Sociology  in  July,  1904,  1905,  reproduced  the  articles 
and  parts  of  the  discussion. 


454  SOCIOLOGY 

of  religion,  and  enforced  by  a  powerful  public  opinion. 
The  effect  of  all  this,  it  is  argued,  would  be  the  elimina- 
tion of  the  weaker  stock  and  the  upbuilding  of  the  race 
through  its  stronger  elements.  The  argument  is  a  sound 
one,  but  it  might  prove  weak  in  practice  if  it  should  de- 
velop into  a  theory  of  propagation  through  a  leisure  class 
chiefly,  or  base  its  conclusions  on  biological  principles 
only,  to  the  exclusion  of  a  study  of  the  economic  condi- 
tions that  so  powerfully  affect  racial  development,  and 
of  the  stress  that  Galton  rightly  placed  on  education, 
morals,  and  the  pressure  of  an  intelligent  public  opinion. 

Social  Safeguards. — In  both  of  these  theories  there 
is  an  assumption  that  society  has  the  right,  for  its  own 
sake,  to  fix  the  conditions  of  reproduction  through  law 
and  public  opinion.  Such  policies,  of  course,  have  always 
been  practiced  by  individual  families,  by  castes,  and  by 
classes  of  nobility  in  regulating  the  marriage  of  their  own 
members.  Utopias  also  regularly  advise  a  eugenic  super- 
vision over  marriages  and  births.  If  a  national  group  as 
a  whole  should  ever  adopt  such  a  policy,  it  would  be  a 
remarkable  illustration  of  a  collective  telic  policy  arising 
out  of  social  necessity.  Under  such  a  policy  no  individual 
would  have  an  inherent  right,  as  at  present,  to  foist  on 
society  weakling  offspring.  Society  would  have  the  right 
to  insist  that  no  one  should  become  a  parent  unless  he 
were  sound  in  body  and  mind ;  that  no  unassimilable  alien 
elements  be  allowed  to  settle  within  the  country;  and 
that  proper  measures  be  taken  to  eliminate  scientifically 
the  weaker  part  of  the  racial  stock. 

Galton's  is  only  one  theory  of  scientific  elimination; 
students  of  penology  and  charity  also  offer  suggestions 
in  respect  to  the  treatment  and  segregation  of  the  worst 
of   our  criminal,   defective,   and  pauperistic  population. 


RACIAL  FACTORS  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS       455 

and  legislators  already  have  placed  on  statute  books  pro- 
hibitions of  marriage  for  defective  or  diseased  persons. 
Economists  emphasize,  as  a  powerful  factor  in  elimina- 
tion, a  higher  standard  of  living  for  the  lower  economic 
classes,  arguing  that  thereby  families  of  improvident 
size  would  cease,  and  that  parents  would  lay  greater  stress 
on  efficient  education  and  better  environment. 

Furthermore,  on  the  assumption  that  the  celibacy  of 
the  best  racial  stock  is  detrimental  to  social  interests,  so- 
ciety hereafter  should  discountenance  systems  of  occu-* 
pation  that  necessitate  celibacy  or  late  marriage,  such,  for 
example,  as  long  enlistments  in  the  army  or  navy,  a  celi- 
bate class  of  women  teachers,  and  celibacy  among  the 
clergy  and  members  of  religious  orders.  Society  also 
should  see  to  it  that  economic  and  cultural  conditions  be 
so  readjusted  that  the  higher  social  classes  would  tend  to 
increase  the  number  of  their  offspring.  Such  a  policy  is 
theoretically  possible,  but  demands  more  scientific  fore- 
sight than  can  ordinarily  be  found  in  our  legislative  halls. 
When  science  has  learned  how  to  fortify  the  body  against 
disease,  how  to  modify  the  evil  effects  of  adverse  climatic 
conditions,  and  how  to  build  up  economic  and  intellectual 
capacity,  an  attainment  already  in  sight,  it  will  seem  but 
a  step  to  the  formulation  of  a  policy  aiming  to  build  up 
the  human  race  as  a  whole  by  emphasis  on  those  factors 
in  heredity  and  environment  favorable  to  the  multiplica- 
tion of  the  stronger  and  better  elements. 

Eudemics.^ — Social  students  are  quite  fully  con- 
vinced that  the  surest  methods  of  national  upbuilding  are 
through  a  endemic  policy  based  on  euthenics  and  eu- 
genics. Nothing  good  can  be  said  of  a  system  that  en- 
courages an  unskilled  laborer  to  marry  at  twenty,  but  that, 

*  See  article  referred  to  on  page  z'/2. 


456  SOCIOLOGY 

on  the  other  hand,  compels  Its  socially  better  classes  to 
postpone  marriage  until  middle  life  or  to  remain  celibate. 
The  mathematical  outcome  of  any  such  system  plainly 
is  the  elimination  of  the  higher  in  favor  of  the  lower. 
Even. if  one  grants  that  the  masses  inherently  are  as  good 
as  the  classes,  why  favor  the  Sisyphean  task  of  per- 
petually raising  the  lower  to  the  higher,  only  to  have  the 
task  renewed  by  the  elimination  of  the  higher  through 
race  suicide?  If  society,  therefore,  ever  hopes  to  carry 
forward  a  telic  policy,  it  must  begin  by  safeguarding 
those  who  have  best  developed  their  brain  capacity,  and 
must  also  seek  to  eliminate  those  classes  that  represent 
the  weaker  elements  of  society.  Such  a  policy,  though 
difficult  of  attainment,  is  not  chimerical.  Once  society 
clearly  sees  what  it  desires,  and  perceives  the  means  at 
hand  for  the  accomplishment  of  its  desire,  time  and  social 
education  would  do  the  rest. 

Euthenics.^ — From  the  euthenic  standpoint  prob- 
ably most  of  our  advanced  nations  could  free  themselves 
from  the  incubus  of  a  deadening  environment  within  a 
very  few  generations,  if  they  felt  so  inclined.  They  have 
already  wealth  and  economic  achievement  enough  to  dis- 
pense with  the  handicap  of  an  ignorant,  unskilled  prole- 
tariat, if  proper  adjustments  were  made.  This  class  is 
the  real  drag  to  endemic  prosperity.  Because  of  its  mis- 
ery, not  because  of  its  innate  depravity,  it  supplies  the 
larger  part  of  our  vice,  pauperism,  and  crime,  with  the 
consequent  expense  of  charity,  jails,  correctional  schools, 
hospitals,  police  force,  and  other  disciplinary  agencies,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  energy  wasted  by  these  theoretically 
useless  institutions  and  the  social  loss  due  to  undeveloped 
capacity  in  the  proletariat.  This  waste  is  a  heavy  tax  on 
*  See  Mrs.  Richard's  Euthenics  in  bibliography. 


RACIAL  FACTORS  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS       457 

social  efficiency  and,  as  it  naturally  tends  to  increase  by 
mere  imitation  and  propagation,  it  can  drag  down  a  nation 
from  the  foremost  place  and  make  of  it  a  decadent  Rome. 
The  possibilities  of  social  improvement  are  endless  and 
too  numerous  for  enumeration.  But  in  illustration  one 
might  suggest  that  inventions  should  be  stimulated,  so  as 
to  multiply  machinery  to  perform  the  work  now  done  by 
unskilled  labor;  food  supplies  could  be  cheapened  by 
greater  attention  to  intensive  and  scientific  farming  and 
the  telic  multiplication  of  fish  and  flesh  supplies  of  food; 
the  housing  condition  of  the  poor  could  be  vastly  im- 
proved by  wiser  legislation,  encouraging  building  asso- 
ciations through  the  stimulus  of  safeguarded  loans  like 
those  advanced  on  farm  properties;  economic  profits 
could  be  more  fairly  distributed  between  capital  and  labor 
and  through  a  system  of  taxation  for  public  purposes  de- 
rived largely  from  incomes,  inheritances,  franchises,  and 
corporations.  The  effective  regulation  of  corporations 
would  also  be  essential,  encouraging  those  that  recognize 
their  social  responsibilities,  and  checks  should  be  placed 
on  exploiting  corporations  with  monopolistic  tendencies. 
Industrial  and  cultural  education  should  be  vigorously 
encouraged  and  given  in  its  best  forms  to  the  poorest 
classes,  so  as  to  stimulate  them  to  enter  skilled  occupations 
and  to  take  up  the  intensive  cultivation  of  the  land.  Fi- 
nally, society  should  endeavor  to  distribute  its  population 
by  the  use  of  clearing  houses  of  information  in  respect  to 
economic  opportunities.  A  policy  aiming  gradually  to  re- 
move the  necessity  of  unskilled  labor  would  tend  to  purify 
social  life,  to  free  an  immense  amount  of  energy  and 
capital  now  wasted,  to  multiply  achievements  by  enlarg- 
ing the  achieving  classes,  and  by  bringing  the  extremes 
of  society  nearer,  to  allow  a  real  democracy.     It  hardly 


458  SOCIOLOGY 

seems  possible  that  the  expense  of  any  such  policy  would 
begin  to  equal  the  present  annual  cost  of  vice,  crime,  and 
pauperism.  Not  that  these  would  be  entirely  eliminated ; 
such  problems  will  undoubtedly  last  for  centuries ;  but  the 
backbone,  so  to  speak,  of  the  whole  problem  would  be 
broken  by  the  uplift  of  the  depressed  third  of  advanced 
civilization.  If  one  were  to  take  into  account  the  increase 
of  national  happiness  and  capacity  as  the  result  of  such 
a  policy,  a  clear  conviction  would  surely  arise  that  the 
trial  would  be  worth  while. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

ECONOMIC   FACTORS  IN   SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

References  have  already  been  made  to  the  theory  that 
physical  and  economic  conditions  largely  determine  so- 
cial development.  This  theory  of  economic  interpretation 
or  determinism  plays  so  important  a  part  in  social  dis- 
cussions that  further  consideration  must  be  given  it.  At- 
tention will,  therefore,  be  called  first  to  the  effect  of  nat- 
ural physical  conditions  in  the  environment,  and  then  to 
the  effect  of  artificial  modifications  of  these  resulting  in 
economic  achievements. 

Influence  of  Physical  Environment. — It  seems  clear 
that  if  man  had  made  few  or  no  achievements,  and  was 
consequently  in  the  earliest  stage  of  his  existence,  he 
would  be,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  determined  by  his 
physical  environment.  Depending,  as  he  would,  on  what 
nature  spontaneously  supplied  it  would  be  of  vital  im- 
portance to  his  welfare  that  he  be  under  kindly  skies 
and  on  fertile  soil,  abundantly  watered  and  teeming  with 
vegetal  and  animal  life  suitable  for  foods.  Under  such 
conditions  he  would  grow  physically  strong  and  develop 
energy  in  abundance.  If,  however,  physical  conditions 
were  inimical,  so  that  there  was  an  excess  of  heat  or  cold, 
or  a  lack  of  sufficient  nutriment,  the  development  of  his 
mind  and  body  would  be  dwarfed  in  consequence.  He 
would  be  either  enervated  or  stunted  by  the  extremes  of 
temperature,  or  blunted  by  hardships.    In  the  same  way 

459 


46o  SOCIOLOGY 

he  would  be  deeply  affected  by  the  kind  of  food,  whether 
flesh  or  vegetal,  that  regularly  made  up  his  diet,^  by  the 
relative  density  and  humidity  of  the  air  he  breathed,  and 
by  the  seasonal  variations  in  the  temperature  of  his  habi- 
tat. In  other  words,  man  under  such  conditions  is  de- 
termined by  his  physical  environment;  his  range  is  lim- 
ited, he  must  stay  where  food  can  best  be  secured,  his 
physique  and  crude  mentality  are  molded  according  to 
the  quantity  and  quality  of  his  food  and  the  variations  of 
climate,  and  through  long  selective  processes  he  becomes 
adapted,  like  an  animal,  to  his  environment.  Even  yet 
no  one  is  prepared  to  deny  that  soil,  climate,  food,  and 
the  kind  of  air  breathed  into  the  lungs  still  powerfully 
affect  human  activity.  All  one  can  say  is  that  they  are 
not  relatively  so  important  in  advanced  civilization.  They 
influence  but  do  not  determine  human  development. 

Man's  Power  Over  Nature. — One  reason  why  phys- 
ical environment  is  relatively  less  influential  in  higher 
civilization  is  that  man  is  no  longer  restricted  to  a  single 
habitat  and,  furthermore,  by  his  achievements  he  has  to 
an  extent  become  able  to  master  and  modify  nature.  If 
he  is  not  satisfied  with  his  physical  environment,  he  may, 
by  utilizing  natural  forces,  be  easily  transferred  to  an- 
other climate;  he  may,  by  his  inventions  such  as  cloth- 
ing, housing,  and  the  use  of  fuels,  modify  somewhat  the 
effects  on  him  of  the  temperature,  humidity,  or  density 
of  his  climate;  he  may  use  chemical  agencies  to  make  fer- 
tile infertile  soil ;  he  can  multiply  vegetal  and  flesh  foods 
through  agriculture,  stock-raising,  and  the  preservation 
of  game  and  fish;  he  may  level  hills,  fill  valleys,  drain 
marshes,  build  roads  and  canals,  plant  forests  or  cut  them 

^  See    R.    Russell,    Strength   and   Diet,   a    practical    treatise    with 
special  regard  to  the  life  of  nations. 


ECONOMIC  FACTORS  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS     461 

down,  and  make  or  import  stone  and  metal,  if  his  home 
soil  fails  to  yield  these  in  sufficient  quantities;  and  he 
saves  his  own  muscular  energy  by  utilizing  natural  power, 
so  abundant  around  him.  To  the  extent  by  which  he 
transforms  his  physical  environment  he  is  not  determined 
by  it.  Yet,  after  all,  these  modifications  have  not  anni- 
hilated natural  forces;  they  have  simply  compelled  them 
to  manifest  energy  in  slightly  different  directions.  En- 
vironment is  still  environment,  though  made  partly  arti- 
ficial through  human  agency,  and  when  man  has  done  all 
he  can,  he  must  still  adapt  himself  to  it,  not,  however,  in 
its  natural  form  but  as  modified  by  human  intellect.  In 
other  words,  though  civilized  man  can,  to  some  extent, 
determine  the  kind  of  physical  and  economic  environment 
in  which  he  is  to  live,  when  the  choice  has  been  made, 
his  physical  and  economic  activities  are  powerfully  in- 
fluenced by  his  environment,  though  not  to  the  same  ex- 
tent as  those  of  his  primitive  ancestor.  The  real  dis- 
tinction lies  in  the  fact  that  in  place  of  the  narrow  and 
relatively  fixed  environment  of  savagery,  he  has  a  highly 
diversified,  variable  environment,  which  allows,  therefore, 
a  wide  variation  in  adaptation. 

A  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  this  statement  is  clear; 
if  society  is  to  keep  on  progressing  from  primitive  con- 
ditions to  higher  civilization,  either  nature  must  itself 
furnish  constantly  bettering  physical  conditions,  which 
is  improbable,  or  man  must  continue  to  increase  his  power 
to  control  natural  conditions.  If  he  should  ever  attain 
such  power  over  nature  as  to  make  possible,  for  all  per- 
sons, a  practical  freedom  from  the  strain  of  economic 
struggle,  the  ideal  condition  for  cultural  achievement  will 
be  reached.  Under  present  conditions  no  national  or 
racial  group,  as  a  whole,  can  hope  to  attain  the  fruits 


462  SOCIOLOGY 

of  a  high  civilization.  Those  within  the  group  who 
have  acquired  a  comprehension  of  nature  and  have 
through  patents  secured  a  partial  monopoly  of  the  means 
of  conquest  may  attain  economic  freedom,  and  those  next 
below  in  the  economic  scale  may  approximate  to  a  similar 
attainment,  but  the  masses  who  live  from  hand  to  mouth 
and  depend  for  existence  on  strenuous  and  benumbing 
toil  are  barred  out  of  the  possibility  of  freedom,  since 
their  lives  are  determined  by  economic  conditions  be- 
yond their  control.  The  attainment  of  higher  civiliza- 
tion for  the  entire  group  lies  in  the  possibility  that  it 
may  be  able  to  comprehend  and  to  utilize  natural  law 
so  effectively  as  to  counteract  the  struggle  for  existence 
by  making  it  comparatively  easy  for  all  the  members  of 
the  group  to  obtain  the  decencies  and  comforts  of  life 
without  undue  toil.  In  other  words,  the  returns  from 
economic  toil  assigned  to  the  proletariat  must  be  vastly 
bettered  before  it  will  become  possible  for  them  to  at- 
tain a  high  civilization. 

Possibilities  of  Later  Modifications. — Now  the 
purely  cosmical  conditions  of  nature  are  practically  be- 
yond human  control.  The  earth  is  a  mere  speck  in  the 
universe  and  in  all  probability  man  can  never  hope  to 
affect  its  cosmic  conditions.  The  earth's  atmosphere, 
the  sun's  rays,  the  relative  proportion  of  land  and  water, 
the  chemical  elements  of  matter  and  cosmic  energy,  all 
these  and  similar  phenomena  he  may  seek  to  under- 
stand and  to  utilize,  but  never  to  modify  fundamentally. 
Whatever  utilization  of  them  he  may  make  is,  how- 
ever, of  the  utmost  importance,  for  through  such  use 
he  passes  from  abject  subjection  to  physical  conditions 
to  a  stage  in  which  he  can  partly  understand  and  manipu- 
late his  environment. 


ECONOMIC  FACTORS  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS     463 

For  this  reason  the  fundamental  problem  before  society 
is  to  multiply  in  every  possible  way  scientific  knowledge 
of  natural  laws  and  the  ability  to  apply  this  to  the 
concrete  conditions  of  life.  The  greatest  benefactors  in 
society  are  its  Newtons,  its  Darwins,  and  its  great  inven- 
tors. We  must  know  how  to  utilize  the  forces  of  nature 
and  how  to  work  up  nature's  materials  into  creative 
forms  of  utility.  We  must  learn  how  to  get  more  and 
better  foods  from  the  soil  and  the  sea,  and  through 
science  and  engineering  how  better  to  make  use  of  those 
parts  of  the  world  hardly  yet  touched,  namely,  the  tropics, 
the  great  deserts,  and  marshy  lands.  One  may  look  for- 
ward in  imagination  to  the  time  when  the  great  rivers 
of  the  earth  will  be  banked  in  by  levees,  their  currents 
used  for  power,  the  silt  from  the  waters  carefully  re- 
turnee! to  the  soil,  the  restless  sands  of  the  deserts  held 
in  check  by  vegetation  and  supporting  a  dense  human 
population,  and  the  tropics  cultivated  into  garden  spots 
abounding  in  foods  and  freed  from  disease  by  scientific 
knowledge.  Possibly  through  cheap  power  rocky  soils 
may  yet  be  pulverized  into  fertile  earth,  or  the  lands 
and  minerals  of  the  frigid  zones  be  brought  into  use 
by  greater  knowledge  of  climatic  and  atmospheric  con- 
ditions; the  world's  store  of  metals  may  become  com- 
pletely known  and  possibly  be  transfused  from  one  to 
the  other  at  will  through  later  chemical  discoveries. 
The  flora  and  fauna  of  land  and  water  may  be  made 
over  by  future  Burbanks  into  species  most  useful  and 
beautiful  for  mankind,  and  human  beings  themselves, 
freed  from  hunger  and  excessive  toil,  may  develop  a 
physique  and  a  mentality  suited  to  such  lords  of  creation. 
These  dreams  are  all  scientifically  possible,  and  the  attain- 
ment of  some  of  them  need  not  wait  for  the  passing  of 


464  SOCIOLOGY 

many  centuries.  At  any  rate  these  for  many  genera- 
tions to  come  will  be  the  fundamental  problems  of 
society,  for  society  as  a  whole  must  understand  nature's 
laws,  and  be  able  to  utilize  its  resources. 

Modifications  Through  the  State. — Evidently  the 
problem  of  such  development  cannot  be  left  merely  to 
private  initiative.  Society  itself  must  become  telic  and 
plan  out  its  activity,  as  is  even  now  partially  the  case. 
Many  states  already  are  beginning  to  foster  science ;  they 
are  encouraging  inventions  by  patent  laws,  and  scientific 
discoveries  by  honors  and  rewards;  they  are  planning 
great  engineering  feats,  such  as  transcontinental  rail- 
roads, Suez  and  Panama  Canals,  and  tunnels  under  rivers 
and  under  the  English  Channel.  The  Great  War  has 
stimulated  the  development  of  many  new  inventions  for 
purposes  of  transportation,  which  are  still  rudi- 
mentary and  will  likely  make  rapid  improvement.  It 
is  evident  that  the  nation  that  adopts  a  policy  furthering 
science  and  invention  most  wisely  and  most  thoroughly 
is  building  its  prosperity  on  sure  foundations.  It  is 
real  economy  to  spend  money  on  scientific  investigation 
even  when  there  is  no  tangible  return.  The  cost  of  a 
battleship,  for  instance,  if  expended  on  scientific  inves- 
tigation in  respect  to  improvement  in  war  material  would 
give  far  greater  returns  in  national  martial  ability. 
Science  and  human  ingenuity,  if  properly  stimulated, 
could  probably  develop  destructive  implements  of  such 
power  as  to  banish  henceforth  the  possibility  of  war,  for 
wars  will  more  likely  cease  because  of  their  destructive- 
ness  and  economic  waste  than  because  of  an  altruistic  ob- 
jection to  human  slaughter. 

Regulation  of  Economic  Interests. — In  addition  to 
the  development  of  science  and  invention,  society  must 


ECONOMIC  FACTORS  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS     465 

also  devise  wiser  systems  for  the  regulation  of  economic 
interests.  This,  next  to  national  preservation,  is  his- 
torically the  chief  business  of  the  state.  The  principles 
to  be  obser^'ed  in  social  regulation  have  already  been 
indicated.  It  is  to  be  assumed  that  citizens  can  un- 
derstand that  they  best  serve  their  own  truest  interests 
while  serving  the  interests  of  the  state,  and  legislation 
should  seek  to  make  real  this  identity  of  interests.  Wise 
regulation  and  stimulus  to  right  action  are  far  better 
than  prohibitions.  Laws  should  not  be  passed  against 
capital  as  such,  or  against  trusts  or  corporations  or  labor 
unions  or  strikes,  or  in  restraint  of  free  speech  or  a 
free  press ;  rather  the  causes  and  conditions  under  which 
social  and  economic  problems  have  come  into  existence 
must  be  understood,  their  constructive  aspects  should  be 
appreciated,  and  their  known  evils  eliminated. 

For  these  evils  scientific  elimination  and  training  are 
the  proper  remedies.  Recalcitrant  members  of  society 
might  better  be  permanently  segregated,  if  they  cannot 
be  trained  and  made  responsive  to  the  power  of  an  intelli- 
gent public  opinion.  Men  will  always  pursue  their  own 
interests  and  should  be  encouraged  to  do  so  by  social 
stimuli.  But  individual  interests  will  harmonize  with 
social  aims  if  society  is  intelligently  guided,  and  this 
should  be  shown  by  wisdom  in  legislation  and  educa- 
tion. If  individuals  fight  against  social  standards  it  is 
safer  to  assume  that  the  standards  are  defective  than 
to  predicate  the  wickedness  of  the  individual  and  the 
perfection  of  law.  If  society  should  adopt  this  point 
of  view  it  would  be  ever  seeking  to  improve  social  ma- 
chiner)%  so  as  to  reduce  social  friction  and  waste  to  a 
minimum.  All  public  regulation  of  economic  interests 
should  be  in  accord  with  expert  advice,  and  should  aim 


466  SOCIOLOGY 

always  to  stimulate,  not  repress,  social  energy,  and  to 
guide  it,  if  necessary,  into  socially  useful  directions. 

Government  as  an  Umpire  in  Disputes. — An  in- 
creasingly important  function  of  government  in  economic 
matters  consists  in  serving  as  arbitrator  or  umpire  in 
disputes  between  capital  and  labor.  Government  prop- 
erly should  favor  neither  the  capitalist  nor  the  laborer 
but  rather  the  public  at  large,  which  includes  these  two 
classes.  The  public,  as  a  whole,  is  not  interested  in 
questions  of  open  or  closed  shops,  or  unions  or  no  unions, 
or  whether  collective  bargaining  should  consist  of  nego- 
tiations between  employer  and  employed  with  or  with- 
out the  assistance  of  a  union  agent.  It  is  interested  in 
a  larger  production  through  constantly  improving  ma- 
chinery and  in  a  just  division  of  the  benefits  arising  there- 
from. Increased  production  through  machinery  naturally 
should  result  in  the  shortening  of  the  hours  of  labor  with- 
out diminution  of  wages.  Hours  properly  should  be  de- 
termined by  scientific  studies  in  respect  to  fatigue  and 
efficient  work.  Work  protracted  beyond  efficiency,  re- 
sulting in  unnecessary  accidents  and  inefficient  produc- 
tion should  be  forbidden,  along  with  overtime  work  for 
the  same  reason.  On  the  other  hand,  within  the  scien- 
tifically determined  labor  day  and  under  humane  condi- 
tions employees  should  do  their  best  work  without  restric- 
tion of  output.  A  restricted  output,  low  speed,  and  ex- 
cessive waste  have  their  justification  when  wages  are 
low,  hours  are  long,  and  bad  feeling  exists  between  em- 
ployer and  employed.  The  Government,  through  arbitral 
courts  and  boards  of  conciliation,  should,  in  disputes, 
take  into  account  decent  standards  of  living  and  the 
health  and  safety  of  employees,  and  make  these  funda- 
mental in  the  settlement  of  disputes,    This  arbitral  func- 


ECONOMIC  FACTORS  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS     467 

tion  wisely  used  should  result  in  the  gradual  passing  of 
strikes  with  their  attendant  bitterness,  crimes,  and  eco- 
nomic waste  through  loss  of  production  and  wage,  the 
burden  of  which  ultimately  falls  on  the  general  public, 
the  consumer.  There  is  no  inherent  reason  why  a  perma- 
nent antagonism  should  exist  between  capital  and  labor. 
It  is  developed  through  ignorance  of  the  other's  point  of 
view  and  because  of  a  spirit  of  exploitation,  on  the  one 
hand,  and  a  desire  to  "get  even"  on  the  other.  Govern- 
ment with  the  scales  of  justice  in  its  hand  should  im- 
partially umpire  conflicting  interests,  should  enunciate  so- 
cially just  principles  based  on  scientific  statistics  and  in- 
vestigation, and  then  should  announce  a  decision  which 
would  readily  secure  the  sanction  of  enlightened  public 
opinion. 

Improvement  in  Government. — Naturally  in  con- 
nection with  such  a  policy,  there  would  be  need  of  effi- 
cient governmental  machinery.  It  probably  makes  small 
difference  whether  the  form  of  government  is  monarchic, 
aristocratic,  or  democratic.  As  long  as  economic  wealth 
and  cultural  education  are  the  privileges  of  a  small 
percentage  of  the  population,  these  will  in  any  case  gov- 
ern. As  the  modern  movement,  however,  is  undoubtedly 
toward  democracy,  a  governmental  system  should  be  so 
arranged  as  to  allow  changes  in  that  direction.  Rigidity 
in  law,  constitutions,  or  governmental  machinery  is  prima 
facie  detrimental  in  dynamic  civilization.  Improvements 
in  governmental  methods  should  constantly  be  devised 
and  tested  by  experiment.  The  United  States  of  America, 
for  example,  with  its  forty-eight  State  legislatures,  its 
national  Congress,  and  its  innumerable  local  lawmaking 
bodies,  is  one  vast  laboratory  for  governmental  experi- 
mentation.    Now  and  then,  in  the  mass  of  useless  legis- 


468  SOCIOLOGY 

lation,  appears  a  law  of  real  value,  and  such  successful 
experiments  should  be  studied  and  adopted  generally, 
with  suitable  modifications,  until  a  still  better  arises.  The 
rise  of  a  legislative  reference  bureau  organized  so  as  to 
furnish  expert  information  to  legislatures,  or  of  the  com- 
mission on  uniform  legislation,  as  well  as  the  frequent 
use  of  technical  commissions  for  the  purpose  of  recom- 
mending legislation,  are  excellent  illustrations  of  the 
movement  toward  a  scientific  government.  The  poli- 
tician must  give  way  to  the  statesman,  who  must  be  far 
wiser  in  general  knowledge  than  is  his  forerunner  of  to- 
day. Lacking  such  changes  in  governmental  machinery, 
efficient  regulation  of  economic  interests  is  well-nigh  im- 
possible, so  that  one  chief  advantage  in  democratic  forms 
is  not  that  they  produce  better  government,  which  is 
hardly  true  at  the  present  time,  as  that  they  make  up  a 
flexible  system  ready  for  the  rapidly  approaching  time 
when  there  will  be  a  demand  for  more  wisdom  in  legis- 
lation, as  the  result  of  a  distinct  social  consciousness  of 
the  necessity  of  telic  prevision  in  national  policy. 

Economic  Achievement. — If  now  we  assume  that 
the  development  of  economic  achievements  by  wise  gov- 
ernmental regulation  should  be  a  fundamental  activity 
of  society,  we  must  discover  the  best  means  of  preserv- 
ing and  increasing  the  economic  achievements  of  the  race. 
In  such  a  consideration  the  means  employed  under  genetic 
development  should  briefly  be  indicated  and  then  the 
changes  involved,  as  telic  ideas  affect  the  situation. 

The  first  achievements  in  the  economic  field  consisted 
in  the  invention  of  tools  and  in  methods  of  hunting  and 
securing  food.  Later  came  knowledge  of  the  making 
of  ornaments,  clothing,  houses,  and  implements  for  cook- 
ing and  other  domestic  economy.    The  natural  and  genetic 


ECONOMIC  FACTORS  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS     469 

method  of  preserving  the  knowledge  of  these  achieve- 
ments was  by  practical  instruction  in  the  group,  given 
through  the  elders  to  the  younger  generation.  This 
education  through  social  imitation,  to  some  extent  was 
given  in  play  and  games,  which  reproduced  the  general 
activities  of  the  group,"  the  knowledge  of  the  group  thus 
readily  becoming  common  property.  An  important 
change  came  through  the  natural  differentiation  of  labor 
based  on  distinctions  of  sex,  skill,  and  class.  The  voca- 
tions of  men  and  women  became  distinct;  certain  fami- 
lies or  groups  acquired  and  devoted  their  skill  in  a  par- 
ticular direction ;  and  the  higher  castes  and  classes  en- 
tered only  special  occupations,  leaving,  as  always  in  early 
civilization,  manual  toil,  the  industries,  and  trade  to  the 
lower  classes.^  Still  later,  specialized  industrial  groups 
became  guilds,  which  regulated  their  own  membership, 
methods  of  work  and  output,  and  carefully  guarded  the 
secret  processes  involved  in  their  trades.  In  all  of  this 
development,  any  given  occupation  safeguarded  its  own 
economic  achievements,  the  elders  or  masters  within  it 
handing  down  instruction.  The  natural  effect  of  this 
system  is  that  specialized  occupations  tend  to  become 
monopolies,  each  carefully  guarding  its  secrets  by  a  full 
regulation  of  membership  and  instruction.  The  utility 
of  this  system  for  a  static  civilization  is  clear.  Routine 
tasks  are  performed  in  accordance  with  immemorial 
custom  generation  after  generation.  Specialized  oc- 
cupations are  dominated  by  the  elders,  who  by  their 
control  of  trade  secrets  dictate  terms  tO'  the  younger 
men,  compel  adherence  to  set  standards,  and  forbid  inno- 
vations. 

'  Note  in  Bibliography  under  name  of  Karl  Groos. 
'  Note    R.    T.    Ely,    Evolution    of  Industrial   Society,   and    Karl 
Biicher,  Industrial  Evolution. 


470  SOCIOLOGY 

Changes  in  Economic  Institutions. — As  dynamic 
changes  in  economic  conditions  developed  one  by  one, 
they  necessitated  teHc  changes  in  economic  institutions. 
These  were  regularly  initiated  by  individuals,  who,  pur- 
suing their  own  interests,  forced  themselves  into  the 
sacred  circle  of  specialized  occupations,  gradually  wrested 
trade  secrets  from  the  guilds,  secured  from  the  gov- 
ernment special  privileges,  and  introduced  innovations. 
These  changes  when  translated  into  social  demands  be- 
come :  free  competition  for  the  right  to  take  part  in 
any  economic  occupation,  opposition  to  any  form  of 
private  economic  monopoly,  and  freedom  to  introduce 
modifications  into  the  economic  system.  As  these  rights 
are  won,  government,  the  agent  of  society,  guaranties 
them  by  law  but  finds  it  hard  to  fulfill  its  pledges,  for  so- 
ciety naturally  tends  to  become  static  even  in  a  dynamic 
civilization;  and  economic  combinations  tend  to  acquire 
monopolies,  to  standardize  their  industries,  and  to  re- 
sist innovations  whenever  possible.  The  telic  office  of 
a  dynamic  society,  therefore,  is  to  move  always  in  the 
direction  of  freedom  of  occupation  and  away  from  mo- 
nopolies of  any  sort  whatsoever.  Even  governmental 
monopolies  may  be  dangerous,  for  if  government  itself 
be  monopolized  by  a  class,  there  may  develop  a  system 
of  class  exploitation.  Illustrations  of  economic  changes 
are  naturally  common  in  these  days  of  a  transitional 
civilization  so  largely  dynarrtic,  as,  for  example,  the 
movement  of  women  into  economic  occupations,  at- 
tempts of  trade-unions  to  regulate  instruction  in  their 
occupations  and  occasionally  to  restrict  membership  on 
lines  of  sex  or  race,  and  capitalistic  attempts  to  monopo- 
lize great  industries,  patents,  franchises,  or  the  necessities 
of  life  or  business.     The  discussion  of  these  details  is, 


ECONOMIC  FACTORS  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS     471 

of  course,  the  prerogative  of  the  economist,  and  our 
attention  may  be  concentrated  on  the  purely  educational 
aspects  of  the  matter. 

Illustrations  of  Economic  Regulation. — The  two 
chief  historic  functions  of  the  state,  as  already  explained, 
have  been  war  and  the  regulation  of  economic  activities, 
and  society's  best  collective  work  has  been  done  in  these 
political  departments.  A  social  or  a  governmental  policy, 
it  will  be  remembered,  tends  to  pass  through  three  well- 
marked  stages :  prohibitive,  regulative,  and  approbative 
or  constructive.  In  Western  civilization  the  individual- 
istic teachings  of  Adam  Smith  and  his  successors  re- 
moved from  statute  books  and  from  custom  many  of 
the  most  obnoxious  prohibitions  on  individual  freedom, 
approving  thereby  a  policy  which  allowed  citizens  and 
even  aliens  great  freedom  in  the  pursuit  of  industrial 
gain.  As  illustrations  of  wise  economic  regulation  may 
be  mentioned  the  patent  system,  and  employers'  liability 
laws  stimulating  employers  to  use  safety  devices  and 
to  have  a  definite  economic  interest  in  the  reduction  of 
accidents.  The  patent  system  of  the  United  States  in  its 
inception  was  really  the  work  of  genius.  Back  of  it 
there  are  two  demands;  first,  that  persons  be  induced  to 
make  material  achievements  by  invention,  and  second, 
that  they  be  persuaded  to  make  their  discoveries  public. 
These  objects  were  accomplished  by  making  it  possible 
for  any  person  at  small  expense  and  loss  of  time  to  patent 
his  invention,  thereby  receiving  a  national  guaranty  that 
he  might  monopolize-  it  for  purposes  of  manufacture  and 
sale  for  a  definite  period  of  years.  As  patents  are  on 
record,  at  the  expiration  of  the  set  time  the  invention 
becomes  public  property.  This  system  encouraged  in- 
ventiveness,  discouraged  the  older  notion   of   retaining 


472  SOCIOLOGY 

the  invention  as  a  secret,  and  provided  that  all  such 
achievements  automatically  become  public  possessions. 
The  results  give  ample  testimony  to  the  wisdom  of 
legislation  which  takes  into  account  human  nature  and 
stimulates  its  activity  by  reward. 

Science  Should  Be  Furthered. — Such  an  illustra- 
tion of  wise  legislation  suggests  that  isociety  is  becom- 
ing strongly  telic  and  constructive  in  its  economic  sphere. 
Certainly  the  best  thought  and  keenest  energy  of  states- 
men have  been  expended  in  that  direction,  and  much 
may  be  expected  within  the  next  few  years.  As  new 
achievements  in  science  and  invention  are  the  essentials 
for  wider  economic  success,  much  could  probably  be  done 
by  a  more  vigorous  emphasis  on  scientific  studies,  by 
multiplying  laboratories  for  research;  by  teaching  in 
the  schools  the  principles  underlying  invention,  so  as 
to  stimulate  inventive  minds  to  activity ;  and  by  devising, 
if  possible,  a  method  whereby  inventions  might  at  once 
become  public,  in  place  of  authorizing  a  temporary  mo- 
nopoly. For,  at  present,  inventors  seldom  reap  due  re- 
wards, their  inventions  are  secured  by  keen  business  men 
with  greater  facilities  for  manufacture  and  sale,  who  by 
well-known  devices,  such  as  protracted  litigation,  man- 
age to  monopolize  the  essential  patents  of  an  industry, 
thereby  exploiting  the  public  for  private  gain  for  long 
periods  of  years.  If  society  itself  could  immediately 
gain  the  benefits  of  an  invention  by  bestowing  directly 
on  the  inventor  a  suitable  reward,  the  social  benefits 
would  be  almost  beyond  computation.  Production 
would  be  competitive  rather  than  monopolistic  and  should 
result  in  vastly  increased  use  through  the  absence  of 
monopolistic  prices.  In  science  professional  pride  is 
now  set  against  secrecy  and  pecuniary  reward  for  scien- 


ECONOMIC  FACTORS  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS     473 

tific  discoveries,  and  added  reputation  is  considered  full 
compensation  for  mental  toil.  It  may  be  that  in  economic 
life  also,  renown,  and  recognition  by  some  honorable 
society,  may  later  be  deemed  ample  reward  for  a  great 
invention,  and  that  inventors  will  as  freely  give  to  the 
public  their  inventions  as  scientists  now  proclaim  their 
discoveries.  Meanwhile  a  nation  may  well  prepare 
for  such  an  age  by  constructively  seeking  to  develop 
to  the  utmost  the  economic  and  inventive  capacity  of 
the  people,  by  stimulating  mental  activity,  and  by  wise 
education. 

Education  for  Economic  Life. — The  constructive 
aspect  of  social  activity,  as  far  as  it  affects  economic 
conditions,  can  also  be  seen  in  the  social  encouragement 
of  industrial  education.  As  long"  as  economic  knowl- 
edge is  simple,  and  competition  is  chiefly  domestic,  a 
nation  may  w^ith  comparative  safety  leave  instruction  to 
private  initiative,  either  that  of  the  individual  or  of  a 
social  group.  If  an  individual  desires  to  enter  a  certain 
occupation  he  will  strive  to  learn  the  business;  if  a 
group  desires  to  attract  members  into  its  occupation  it 
will  offer  instruction  as  an  inducement.  As  complexity 
in  knowledge  develops,  private  initiative  in  the  same  way 
will  develop  schools,  specialized  so  as  to  meet  the  demands 
of  the  economic  world,  and  these  will  give  instruction  in 
the  technique  of  the  occupation  in  demand.  In  this  way 
there  arise  private  schools  for  the  professions,  for  com- 
merce and  manufactures,  and  for  the  skilled  trades. 

The  State's  Share  in  This  Education. — As  the  social 
importance  of  these  becomes  clearer,  a  demand  arises 
that  the  state  recognize  their  utility  by  assisting  them. 
The  state  therefore  begins  to  assume  a  constructive  at- 
titude toward  such  education.    If  the  profits  of  the  school 


474  SOCIOLOGY 

are  devoted  not  to  private  gain  but  to  educational  pur- 
poses the  state  may  grant  exemption  from  taxation  as 
an  encouragement  in  social  service — which  is  virtually 
a  public  grant  for  economic  education.  Or  again,  the 
state  may  contribute  directly  toward  the  expense  of  such 
education,  reserving  sometimes  the  right  to  supervise 
the  management  of  the  school.  As  competition  becomes 
foreign,  as  well  as  domestic,  and  economic  matters  in- 
creasingly complex  and  scientific,  private  enterprise  for 
lack  of  endowment  fails  to  give  satisfactory  instruction 
for  small  tuitional  fees.  In  consequence  there  comes  an 
insistent  demand  that  the  state  itself  take  charge  of 
such  education.  If  trade-unions  are  powerful  and  op- 
posed to  technical  instruction  by  the  state,  the  path  of 
least  resistance  is  for  the  state  to  assume  the  support  of 
professional  and  highly  technical  schools,  and  of  instruc- 
tion in  the  broader  economic  fields  not  dominated  by  the 
unions,  such  fields,  e.g.,  as  agriculture  and  commerce. 
The  first  stage,  therefore,  in  this  movement  is  the  promo- 
tion of  professional,  commercial,  engineering,  and  agri- 
cultural training  schools.  The  next  step  is  to  give  gen- 
eralized instruction  in  the  use  of  tools,  and  special  in- 
struction in  certain  aspects  of  the  higher  trades  involv- 
ing drawing  and  design, — the  artistic  industries.  Finally, 
as  the  opposition  of  trade-unionism  dies  away,  special 
instruction  in  the  trades  themselves  may  be  given,  first 
in  the  form  of  lectures  to  workingmen  on  the  higher 
aspects  of  the  trade,  and  then  distinct  instruction  to  the 
young  in  the  trade  itself  through  technical,  vocational, 
or  half-time  schools.  In  the  same  manner  the  army  and 
especially  the  navy  become  training  schools  for  the  skilled 
trades  required  by  those  branches  of  the  service.    Another 


ECONOMIC  FACTORS  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS     475 

development  arises  when  the  government  organizes  an  ad- 
ministrative department  *  especially  devoted  to  the  pro- 
motion of  economic  and  labor  interests.  This  may 
serve  as  a  clearing  house  for  information  bearing  on 
scientific  farming  and  marketing,  and  on  trade  and  com- 
merce, supplying  knowledge  of  market  demands,^  and 
may  act  as  an  agent  for  industrial  and  labor  interests  in 
voicing  their  demands  for  legislation.  Again,  these  de- 
partments, assisted  by  technical  schools,  may  make  sci- 
entific investigations,  so  as  to  prevent  disputes  and  to 
assist  economic  interests  by  expert  advice. 

*  Such  as  our  national  Departments  of  Agriculture,  Commerce, 
and  Labor. 

"  See,  for  illustrations,  American  consular  reports,  published  in 
the  daily  Commerce  Reports  issued  by  the  United  States  Depart- 
ment of  Commerce. 


CHAPTER    XXIX 

EDUCATIONAL  FACTORS  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

The  economic  is  an  important  factor  in  social  prog- 
ress, but  education  is  its  complement.  At  the  outset  it 
should  be  stated  that  sociology  is  not  merely  concerned 
with  that  division  of  social  phenomena  included  under 
the  term  education.  The  science  of  education  devotes 
itself  mainly  to  the  kind  of  education  imparted  by  the 
ordinary  schools  of  a  national  system  of  education.  In 
these,  aside  from  those  for  industrial  and  technical  edu- 
cation, instruction  is  given  in  the  simpler  traditional 
knowledge  of  society,  and  chiefly  for  economic  and  civic 
purposes.  It  consists  in  the  main  of  linguistics  and 
mathematics,  eked  out  by  a  slight  amount  of  scientific 
and  cultural  information.  The  wisdom  of  present  meth- 
ods and  courses  of  study  is  seriously  questioned  by  many, 
as  well  as  their  utility  for  industrial  life  or  for  a  cul- 
tural civilization.  Unquestionably  the  demand  for  a  more 
socialized  education  is  voicing  itself  in  many  directions, 
awaiting  chiefly  proper  text-books  and  methods,  as  well 
as  teachers  trained  in  the  principles  of  sociology.  The 
whole  problem  of  public  education,  however,  is  outside 
the  immediate  province  of  sociology,  except  in  so  far 
as  "its  principles  may  prove  helpful  in  determining  the 
policy  of  an  educational  system. 

The  Purpose  of  Public  Education. — Since  every 
formal  system  of  education  embodies  a  telic  policy  and 

476 


EDUCATIONAL  FACTORS  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS    477 

implies  that  society  has  a  distinct  end  in  mind,  that  end 
should  be  clear,  and  the  means  of  attaining  the  end 
should  be  the  best  possible  under  the  circumstances.  In 
the  opinion  of  some,  public  education  is  fundamentally 
intended  as  a  basis  for  economic  life,  with  such,  civic 
information  as  may  be  necessary  for  citizenship.  By 
contrast  education  should  be  considered  as  a  system  for 
the  preparation  of  social  beings  for  social  life,  which, 
of  course,  will  include  the  economic  and  the  civic.  School 
administration,  however,  is  regularly  static  and  innova- 
tions enter  slowly,  yet  movements  away  from  the  old 
are  clearly  in  evidence.  The  trend  toward  industrial 
education  is  obvious,  and  changes  working  towards  a 
social  and  a  cultural  education  are  equally  well  marked. 
The  church,  for  example,  is  losing  its  control  over  educa- 
tion and,  having -no  longer  compulsory  authority,  it  must 
teach  morals  and  religion  to  the  young  attractively,  and 
without  dogmatism;  in  the  schools  themselves  a  moral 
change  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  chastisement  and 
unintelligent  drudgery  begin  to  yield  to  an  emphasis  on 
self-control  and  incitement  of  interest;  sciences  with  their 
lields  of  concrete  knowledge  are  replacing  the  former 
undue  emphasis  on  linguistics  and  irksome  disciplinary 
studies ;  and  aesthetic  training  and  stimulation  of  thought- 
processes  are  driving  out  memorization  and  task  work. 
There  is  a  movement  to  emphasize  a  knowledge  of  the 
achievements  of  civilization  rather  than  a  dull  routine  of 
meaningless  details.  Sociology  naturally  favors  this 
stress  on  social  fundamentals,  representing  the  dynamic, 
progressive  quality  of  the  social  mind,  without  which 
static  conditions  would  prevail.  Much  of  the  other  sort 
of  knowledge  is  acquired  easily  under  the  domestic,  eco- 
nomic, and  recreational  environment  of  early  years,  if 


478  SOCIOLOGY 

these  are  at  all  what  they  should  be;  and  schools  should 
merely  supplement  this  natural  training,  adding  also  an 
increasing  emphasis  on  scientific  teachings  in  their  simple 
fundamental  forms  and  on  the  cultural  ideals  of  higher 
civilization.  No  system  of  education  is  worthy  of  the 
name  which  fails  to  give  its  pupils  an  appreciation  of 
the  earth  on  which  they  live  and  its  cosmic  environment, 
or  fails  to  arouse  the  imaginative  and  the  ideal,  and  to 
give  glimpses  of  the  world  of  thought.  The  human 
mind  naturally  begins  to  reach  after  the  cultural  in  the 
early  years  of  adolescence,  while  the  concrete  sciences 
and  social  activities  appeal  throughout  the  entire  period 
of  growth. 

Social  Education. — Again,  stress  should  be  placed 
on  the  fact  that  the  human  mind  grows  and  achieves  only 
as  it  comes  in  contact  with  its  social  environment.  A 
mind  in  contact  only  with  the  petty,  the  degrading, 
or  the  narrowness  of  a  one-sided  environment  remains 
aborted  throughout  life.  The  greatest  waste  in  society 
to-day  is,  after  all,  in  the  innumerable  potentialities  of 
human  mentality  that  lie  undeveloped  through  the  lack 
of  a  stimulating  environment.  Through  a  system  of  so- 
cialized education  applying  the  rapidly  developing  prin- 
ciples of  social  psychology,  each  generation  should  be 
taught  to  comprehend  the  unity  rather  than  the  discord 
of  social  life,  it  should  appreciate  its  relations  to  the 
plant  and  animal  world,  the  importance  and  interdepend- 
ence of  the  social  institutions  that  train  and  control  its 
activities,  and  the  necessity  of  making  these  its  agents 
in  policies  of  social  improvement.  The  present  need  is 
not  so  much  for  an  accumulation  of  additional  informa- 
tion to  be  stored  away  on  the  shelves  of  our  libraries, 
as   for  the  wide  diffusion  and  personal  absorption  of 


EDUCATIONAL  FACTORS  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS    479 

what  knowledge  already  exists.  Creative  minds,  in  any 
case,  will,  without  prodding,  add  continually  to  the 
world's  supply  of  knowledge,  but  if  the  average  person 
through  social  education  acquired  a  social  attitude  of 
mind  and  understood  with  some  clearness  the  social  pan- 
orama before  him,  civilization  would  make  an  immense 
leap  forward.  Social  ignorance  is  the  great  handicap 
to  social  progress.  The  great  social  evils  are  creations 
of  human  ignorance  and  can  be  banished  only  as  the 
average  man  sees  the  reasons  why  they  exist  and  learns 
the  art  of  modifying  the  conditions  that  make  them.  It 
is  not  sufficient  that  this  knowledge  be  held  by  the  few, 
it  must  become  a  common  possession,  so  that  public  opin- 
ion, rightly  informed,  will  spontaneously  sanction  the 
demand  for  their  elimination.  In  the  same  manner  a 
careful  social  education,  made  general  and  reiterated 
through  the  press  and  the  platform,  would  enable  per- 
sons constructively  to  devise  policies  of  social  better- 
ment. Success  in  the  attainment  of  ends  would  develop 
a  belief  in  social  telesis,  so  that  telic  policies  would  be 
supported  by  a  public  opinion  constantly  growing  in 
intelligence  through  studies  of  causes  and  conditions. 

Supposed  Antagonism  of  Utility  and  Culture. — 
There  are  many  who,  curiously  enough,  assume  that 
there  is  a  natural  antagonism  between  utility  and  cul- 
ture. Like  Mr.  Gradgrind,^  who  preferred  facts  to 
theories  and  figures  to  fancies,  they  believe  that  no  in- 
struction is  good  unless  it  has  a  market  value  and  is 
presented  in  unattractive  form  and  driven  in  by  stern- 
ness and  threat.  But  a  wiser  psychology  insists  that 
the  mind  in  its  development   follows  a  natural   order, 

*  Dickens' //arc/    Times.      "Thomas    Gradgrind,    sir — a    man    of 
realities,  a  man  of  facts  and  calculations." 


48o  SOCIOLOGY 

and  should  be  supplied  always  with  a  mental  diet  suited 
to  its  stage  of  life,  so  that  the  child  in  its  growth  will 
in  a  sense  hunger  and  thirst  after  knowledge.  With 
that  as  an  ideal,  in  early  years  well-directed  play,  the 
use  of  tools  to  some  extent,  the  simple  principles  of 
science  and  of  human  industry,  training  in  rhythmic 
movements  and  sounds,  and  the  beauty  of  color  and 
form,  might  be  imparted  as  fundamentals,  leaving  as 
incidental  the  knowledge  of  written  language  and  arith- 
metic, until  the  mind  demanded  them  for  use  and  ac- 
quired them  with  ease.  Under  such  a  training  there 
would  be  no  necessary  opposition  between  the  useful 
and  the  attractive.  The  youth  who  passed  into  the  in- 
dustries would  carry  with  them  an  idea  of  beauty  and 
knowledge  that  would  be  felt  in  their  work,  and  those 
passing  on  to  higher  education  would  have  as  a  basis  a 
knowledge  of  tools  and  industry  that  would  help  to 
bridge  the  chasm  between  the  economic  and  the  cultural 
worlds.  Certainly  nothing  can  be  more  disheartening  than 
the  dull  apathy  of  those  legions  of  citizens  who  have  been 
"educated"  under  the  present  system,  but  who  never 
caught  the  gleam  of  inspiration,  nor  thought  of  school  or 
college  except  as  a  place  of  punishment  and  detention. 
Like  Bunyan's  atheist,  they  traveled  the  road  that  leads 
to  paradise,  but  after  reaching  the  gates  of  it  they  turned 
back  and  reported  its  non-existence.  It  is  useless  to 
disguise  the  many  failures  of  education  by  charging 
them  to  the  stupidity  of  pupils.  Pupils  are  often  stupid 
because  of  physical  defect  or  malnutrition,^  but  failure 
is  too  often  due  to  a  defective  course  of  study  and  to 
the  incompetency  of  poorly  paid  and  wretchedly  trained 

^  For  a  careful  study  on  this  topic,  see  A.  W.  Smyth,  Physical 

Deterioration. 


EDUCATIONAL  FACTORS  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS    481 

teachers,  who  yet  are  strugghng  forward  towards  the 
time  when  teaching  will  be,  as  Plato  argued,  the  profes- 
sion most  deserving  of  honor  in  the  state. 

Rise  of  Cultural  Ideals. — Although  sociology  is 
deeply  interested  in  the  results  obtained  from  industrial 
and  public  education,  there  is  another  field  of  knowledge, 
which  has  vital  importance  to  social  progress.  It  will 
be  remembered  that  the  rise  of  a  leisure  class  was  noted 
as  one  of  the  most  important  achievements  of  early 
civilization.  In  its  beginnings  it  was  made  up  of  forceful, 
brainy  men,  who  for  selfish  purposes  exploited  their 
fellows  in  war  or  slavery,  thereby  growing  wealthy 
through  injustice.  Of  course,  as  individuals  they  deserve 
simply  condemnation  by  modern  standards,  but,  out  of 
the  system  thus  established,  grew  a  class  of  persons  who, 
freed  from  economic  strain,  devoted  themselves  to 
thought,  outside  of  the  field  of  war  and  industrial  toil.^ 
Out  of  their  speculations  on  the  mysteries  in  nature 
and  in  the  human  mind  and  on  the  bases  for  moral  and 
social  systems,  there  slowly  developed  empirical  sciences 
and  philosophies,  ideals  of  goodness,  beauty  and  truth, 
and  laws  that  seemed  to  them  eternal. 

The  Errors  of  Past  Civilization. — One  should  hesi- 
tate to  censure  unduly  the  blunders  of  a  genetic  develop- 
ment. In  such  an  age  men  are  prone  to  assume  that 
the  knowledge  they  have   is   absolute,   lacking  as   they 

'  Historically  such  classes  would  best  be  illustrated  by  the  priest- 
hood, such  as  the  hierarchy  of  ancient  Egypt,  for  example,  or  by 
the  Greek  philosophers.  In  more  modern  times  our  scientists, 
thinkers,  artists,  and  moral  and  religious  leaders  are  seldom  engaged 
in  industrial  occupations.  They  receive  support  from  some  uni- 
versity or  ecclesiastical  organization  in  order  that  they  may  devote 
themselves  to  cultural  achievement.  The  leading  thinkers  in  great 
universities  are,  for  example,  seldom  expected  to  teach  more  than 
six  hours  per  week.  Their  real  work  is  in  the  study  or  the  labo- 
ratory. 


482  SOCIOLOGY 

do  historical  perspective  and  facility  in  prevision.  Be- 
cause of  that  fact,  however,  it  was  natural  that  the  teach- 
ings of  great  thinkers  in  static  civilization  should  have 
developed  into  settled  dogmas,  against  which  no  one 
must  raise  his  voice.  Yet  in  every  dynamic  age,  aroused 
by  the  clash  of  changing  conditions,  new  thinkers  with 
true  insight  and  daring  promulgated  wiser  teachings, 
even  though,  Hke  Socrates,  they  were  considered  "impious 
and  perverters  of  the  youth."  Through  such  persons 
dogma  was  broken  down,  and  newer  truths  passed  into 
social  consciousness.*  As  in  all  such  genetic  movements, 
progress  was  slow.  The  influence  of  the  innovator  was 
weak  in  comparison  with  the  power  of  static  thought, 
which  retarded  advancement  many  centuries  by  repression 
and  persecution.  Fortunately  for  progressive  civilization, 
the  invention  of  printing  broke  the  power  of  dogmatism, 
and  after  a  struggle  of  five  hundred  years  the  printed  page 
and  the  voice  have  become  free,  never  again  to  be  sup- 
pressed wherever  civilization  is  advancing.  While,  there- 
fore, those  who  believe  that  truth  has  been  finally  ascer- 
tained, whether  in  science  or  theology,  may,  like  the  de- 
crepit giant  of  Bunyan,  mumble  at  passers-by, they  cap  no 
longer  bar  the  way  of  travelers  to  a  larger  knowledge 
of  life.  This  development  probably  marks  the  beginning 
of  the  end  of  genetic  thought  as  characteristic  of  so- 
ciety. We  are  passing  into  an  age  when  society,  becom- 
ing self-conscious  of  its  destiny,  is  aiming  to  enlarge  its 
mental  activity  in  accord  with  well-planned  ends. 

Social  Value  of  the  Ideas  of  Culture. — In  order  to 
do  so,  however,  it  must  "take  account  of  stock."     Now 

*  As  illustrations  of  this  may  be  noted  Edward  Clodd,  Pioneers  of 
Evolution  from  T hales  to  Huxley,  and  Andrew  D.  White's  History 
of  the   Warfare  of  Science  zvith   Theology  in  Christendom. 


EDUCATIONAL  FACTORS  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS   483 

the  most  valuable  possession  society  has  is  its  mass  of 
cultural  ideas.  Its  greatest  men  are  those  who  think 
out  new  thoughts  and  add  to  the  sum  total  of  human 
achievement.  Sociology's  chief  interest  in  education  is 
to  see  to  it  that  these  great  ideas  be  enlarged,  unified, 
taught,  and  utilized  for  social  progress.  It  is  interested 
in  the  rise  of  men  who  will  add  to  these  ideas,  it  desires 
the  broadening  of  scientific  knowledge,  and  the  multiplica- 
tion of  inventions  for  lifting  from  human  shoulders  the 
necessity  of  wearisome,  physical  toil,  so  that  the  people  as 
a  whole  may  enjoy  leisure.  In  its  philosophic  aspect  it 
anticipates  the  time  when  the  great  truths  of  ethics,  re- 
ligion, and  philosophy  ^  may  be  presented  so  clearly  and 
so  generally  to  the  human  mind  that  men  may  emancipate 
themselves  from  bondage  to  ignorance,  and  become  free 
in  will  and  mind.  The  education,  therefore,  in  which 
sociology  is  directly  interested  is  not  that  taught  in  the 
schools,  fundamental  though  it  is,  but  rather  the  teaching 
of  those  ideas  that  arouse  men,  as  Kant  put  it,  "from 
dogmatic  slumber,"  and  inspire  in  them  a  desire  to  en- 
gage in  the  never-ending  search  for  the  holy  grail  of 
science  and  philosophy. 

Agencies  for  Education. — This  education  is  not 
necessarily  imparted  merely  in  schools  and  colleges,  where 
instruction  is  so  largely  traditional,  but  is  carried  on  also 
in  laboratory  and  factory,  in  libraries,  art  centers,  in 
private  study,  and  in  great  correspondence  schools.  It 
comes  through  the  printing  press  and  in  the  various 
kinds  of  aesthetic  enjoyment — in  the  rhythm  of  motion 
and  in  the  joyous  appreciation  of  form,  color,  and  sound, 

'  Note  as  attempts  in  this  direction  the  several  works  by  John 
Beattie  Crozier,  e.g.,  Ch'ilization  and  Progress,  and  History  of 
Intellectual  Development  on  the  Lines  of  Modern  Evolution,  vol.  i. 


484    ,  SOCIOLOGY 

or  even  in  the  games  that  develop  moral  qualities,  as 
well  as  on  the  platform  where  great  issues  are  discussed. 
Our  present  dynamic  civilization  is  animated  through  and 
through  by  a  desire  for  knowledge,  and  along  with  much 
that  is  useless  and  even  injurious,  it  is  seeking  to  develop 
its  knowledge  of  the  effects  of  social  achievement.  Great 
economic  changes  involve  the  readjustment  of  state, 
church,  family,  and  school.  As  these  readjust  themselves, 
so  as  to  harmonize  with  better  economic  conditions,  move- 
ments to  moralize  and  beautify  life  should  arise  in  nat- 
ural order,  and  finally  should  come  great  philosophies  to 
explain  and  unify  past  achievements.  First,  the  inventor 
and  the  scientist,  as  sappers  and  engineers  to  prepare  the 
way,  then  reorganized  institutions  to  retain  what  has 
been  gained,  and  finally,  a  philosophy  to  unify  the  work 
and  to  forecast  the  forward  movement. 

Scientific  Knowledge. — This  order  of  development, 
it  may  be  seen,  is  implied  in  the  serial  order  of  the 
sciences.  If  we  look  at  these  once  more  the  interde- 
pendence of  all  knowledge  is  evident.  Before  society 
can  make  a  great  advance  in  economic  and  cultural 
achievement,  it  must  broaden  its  scientific  knowledge. 
Geological  study  will  give  more  complete  information 
about  the  earth's  strata  and  the  wealth  of  minerals  buried 
in  them;  physics  must  discover  yet  more  in  regard  to 
cosmic  energy  and  how  it  may  be  comprehended  and 
forced  to  serve  human  ends,  as  light,  heat,  and  power; 
chemistry  must  show  the  new  possibilities  for  manu- 
facturing and  invention;  biological  science  must  add  to 
our  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  plant  and  animal  life,  in 
order  that  we  may  eradicate  the  diseases  of  organic 
structures  and  constructively  develop  through  the  use 
of  natural  energy  a  more  abundant  food  supply  and  a 


EDUCATIONAL  FACTORS  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS    485 

better  racial  stock ;  while  psychology  must  discover  how 
mankind  may  treble  or  quadruple  its  capacity  for  thought. 
Only  as  these  sciences  add  achievement  to  achievement 
can  economic  and  political  institutions  cooperate  to  build 
up  a  favorable  basis  for  the  development  of  a  vigorous 
racial  stock,  whose  every  impulse  will  tend  toward  ac- 
tivity, so  as  to  overcome  the  inertia  of  centuries  of  static 
civilization.  Needless  to  say  that  under  such  conditions, 
properly  guided  for  common  enjoyment,  there  could  not 
help  but  come  a  great  outburst  of  cultural  civilization. 
Scientific  knowledge  is  a  great  moralizer,  and  while  simple 
morals  are  best  taught  through  social  imitation,  ethical 
standards  are  far  better  promulgated  through  science. 
It  needs  no  prophet  to  foretell  that  if  a  vigorous  race, 
morally  and  mentally  capable,  surrounded  by  our  modern 
wealth  of  learning,  saw  itself  in  the  midst  of  a  progressive 
age,  its  bounding  energy  would  add  achievement  after 
achievement  In  the  arts,  in  religion,  and  in  philosophy. 
It  is  not  the  Ghetto  or  the  slum  that  produces  our  best 
thought,  but  the  ease  of  leisure,  the  environment  of  cul- 
ture, and  a  deathless  ambition  to  make  human  life  worth 
the  living.  Happiness,  not  misery,  is  the  spur  to  higher 
achievement. 

Telic  Multiplication  of  Achievement. — With  re- 
spect to  the  achievemental  ideas  of  society,  it  is  needless 
to  expect  anything  but  the  slow  and  tortuous  movement 
of  genetic  development,  unless  society  definitely  under- 
takes to  see  to  it  that  its  great  truths  are  developed  and 
taught.  The  time  must  come  when  the  broadening  of 
knowledge  may  be  definitely  undertaken  by  the  state  it- 
self, but  as  long  as  its  interests  are  chiefly  warlike  and 
economic,  it  can  give  small  attention  to  matters  funda- 
mentally more  important.    xAs  war  dies  out  and  economic 


486  SOCIOLOGY 

development  becomes  more  scientifically  organized,  the 
state  will  turn  more  and  more  to  the  moralizing  and 
beautifying  ®  of  the  conditions  of  life.  Meanwhile,  as 
always  in  history,  that  stage  must  be  preceded  by  the 
movement  of  individuals  and  voluntary  groups,  each 
furthering  a  special  improvement.  But  these  numerous 
agencies  in  time  are  unified,  and  great  provincial,  na- 
tional, and  even  international  organizations  develop,  to 
systematize  telic  activity.  Our  age  will  soon  be  in  the 
midst  of  this  period,  and  higher  cultural  achievements 
will  multiply  by  leaps  and  bounds.  Such  achievements 
as  these  may  be  made  by  individuals,  and  by  social 
groups,  as  well  as  by  society  as  a  whole.  The  number 
of  persons  devoted  to  the  possibility  of  some  achieve- 
ment is  relatively  small.  There  always  will  be  multitudes 
to  "hold  the  fort,"  but  not  many  willing  to  join  the 
"forlorn  hope."  Still,  the  test  of  civilization,  as  well 
as  of  bravery,  is  willingness  to  expend  energy  and  one's 
self  in  the  attempt  to  push  forward  the  van  of  progress. 
For  this  reason  the  enlightened  fraction  of  the  world's 
population  has  always  held  as  its  real  heroes  those  who  in 
study  or  laboratory  have  painfully  worked  out  the  great 
discoveries  in  science,  art,  invention,  and  philosophy,  that 
collectively  make  men  but  "little  lower  than  the  angels." 
A  civilization  is  sound  as  long  as  it  is  rearing  men  and 
women  who  neglect  bodily  ease  to  search  out  the  pos- 
sibilities in  radium  or  electricity,  the  significance  of  the 
microbe  in  disease,  or  who  plan  a  national  banking  sys- 
tem, or  an  improvement  in  law;  or  discover  scientific 
methods  for  the  reduction  of  the  death  rate;  or  who 
enrich  life  by  achievements  in  the  fine  arts.     Immediate 

'  See,    for   example,    Charles    Mulford    Robinson,    Modern    Civic 
Art. 


EDUCATIONAL  FACTORS  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS     487 

results  matter  little;  if  only  civilization  has  such  work- 
ers its  progress  is  sure.  The  contrary  is  true  when  men 
become  self-satisfied  and  devote  themselves  to  the  classi- 
fication of  the  knowledge  of  their  fathers.  A  man  in 
love  with  his  pedigree  may  feel  sure  that  the  best  part 
of  him  is  buried  with  his  ancestry.  When  civilization 
turns  its  face  toward  the  past,  it  is  a  sure  indication 
that  the  times  are  decadent  and  that  persons  prefer  the 
ease  of  atrophy  to  nobler  ambitions. 

Group  Achievement. — It  is  a  hopeful  sign  of  the 
times  that  individual  energy  is  being  powerfully  stimu- 
lated and  supplemented  by  group  activity.  Throughout 
higher  civilization  there  are  numerous  institutions  for 
scientific  investigation,  for  the  impartation  of  systematic 
information  in  respect  to  achievement,  and  for  the  stimu- 
lation of  others  to  aid  directly  or  indirectly  in  the  for- 
ward work  of  civilization.  In  the  laboratories  of  the 
great  universities  and  foundations  for  scientific  research, 
in  experimental  departments  of  manufactories,  in  libra- 
ries, and  in  art  centers  men  are  supported  by  group  funds 
to  work  out  the  problems  of  civilization. 

Achievement  Through  the  State. — A  similar  work, 
though  more  restricted,  is  being  done  by  States,  which 
through  national  universities,  scientific  bureaus,  and  com- 
missions for  research  are  adding  to  the  common  stock 
of  achievement.  Unquestionably  the  State  will  in  the 
future  take  an  increasingly  larger  part  in  this,  but 
should  never  be  allowed  to  monopolize  it  lest  it  tend  to 
develop  fixed  standards.  The  very  fact  that  it  repre- 
sents the  nation  as  a  whole  tends  to  make  it  somewhat 
conservative  and  less  prone  to  experiment  with  the  new. 
Freedom  of  thought  and  activity  are  essential  to  high  at- 
tainment, and  for  some  generations  at  least  the  initiative 


488  SOCIOLOGY 

of  individuals  and  voluntary  groups  will  prove  more 
trustworthy  than  a  well-intentioned  government  handi- 
capped by  general  inertia  and  the  opposition  of  affected 
interests.  If  the  time  should  ever  come  when  state,  col- 
lege, and  church  shall  have  freed  themselves  from  the 
notion  that  there  are  some  laws,  institutions,  and  dog- 
mas "too  sacred  to  be  discussed,"  and  shall  have  adopted 
the  scientific  idea  that  teachings  are  always  to  be  held 
open  for  more  light  and  knowledge,  then  it  may  be  pos- 
sible to  work  entirely  through  these  for  achievement. 
As  Sir  Thomas  More,  however,  once  wrote,  "There  are 
many  things  .  .  .  that  I  rather  wish  than  hope  to  see 
followed  in  our  governments."  ^  As  long  as  a  curriculum 
is  a  time-honored  institution,  or  a  government  perfect 
in  its  own  eyes,  or  a  religion  so  true  that  its  dogmas  are 
taught  to  unthinking  children,  it  may  be  necessary  at 
times  for  individuals  and  groups  to  nail  their  protest 
to  the  door,  and  to  proclaim  a  newer  teaching  which, 
like  Virgil's  fama,  will  gain  strength  by  discussion.^ 

Class  or  General  Education. — Should  higher  educa- 
tion be  imparted  to  all  the  members  of  a  social  group 
or  to  a  class  only?^  The  answer  of  genetic  civilization 
is  very  clear;  industrial  and  economic  training  should  be 
given  to  the  masses,  cultural  training  to  the  few.  If 
society  rested  satisfied  with  this  reply,  it  would  at  once 
proceed  to  divide  its  educational  system  into  two  parts : 
instruction  in  the  trades  for  the  many,  and  a  "classical 
course"  for  the  children  of  leisure,  who  should  be  kept 
from  the  defilement  of  industrial  pursuits.  Indeed,  edu- 
cational  systems   readily   and   naturally   incline   in  that 

'  Utopia,  at  the  end. 

*  Book  IV,  1,  175;  virisque  adquirit  ciindo. 

'  On    this   point   see    Mackenzie's    Social  Philosophy,    Chap.    VI, 
Part  III. 


EDUCATIONAL  FACTORS  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS     489 

direction.  To  think  otherwise  in  fact  really  requires 
an  effort  of  the  social  will  and  a  clear  perception  of  an 
ideal  to  be  attained.  This  ideal  in  opposition  to  genetic 
civilization  is  supplied  by  the  democratic  humanitarian 
movement  of  recent  centuries,  which  exalts  as  an  ideal 
an  appropriate  opportunity  for  all,  irrespective  of  social 
station.  Obviously  this  ideal  is  as  yet  impracticable  in 
complete  application,  but  in  education  an  r.pproximation 
to  it  is  possible  through  free  public  schools  and  the  ease 
with  which,  in  some  countries  at  least,  persons  of  small 
means  may  obtain  education  in  college  or  university. 

Social  Importance  of  the  Democratic  Ideal. — Since 
the  ideal  of  democracy  is  from  the  sociological  stand- 
point a  matter  of  fundamental  importance,  it  makes  great 
difference  whether  cultural  knowledge  is  open  to  the 
many  or  the  few.  The  reason  has  already  been  partially 
explained.  Great  achievements  are  not  made  by  hum- 
drum minds  but  by  mean  of  genius.  Talent  is  not  con- 
fined to  the  descendants  of  the  members  of  the  leisure 
class  only,  but  is  displayed  by  the  sons  of  the  poor,  who 
in  their  bitter  experience  often  develop  a  type  of  men- 
tality potent  W'ith  genius.  Yet  if  class  lines  are  sharply 
drawn  and  cultural  opportunities  are  scantily  offered  to 
the  poor,  hard  toil  and  the  lack  of  a  stimulating  environ- 
ment depress  natural  capacity.  In  consequence,  a  power- 
ful brain,  able  to  make  great  achievement  under  proper 
conditions,  becomes  warped;  and,  blindly  fretting  with 
discontent,  turns  against  existing  institutions,  and  may 
become  rabidly  hostile  to  society.  The  social  loss  is 
not  simply,  therefore,  in  achievements  not  made,  but  in 
avoidable  friction  and  turbulence.  From  either  stand- 
point the  waste  is  unnecessary.  If,  as  a  matter  of  telic 
policy,  a  distinct  attempt  were  made  to  impart  to  all 


490  SOCIOLOGY 

members  of  society,  rich  and  poor,  male  and  female,  an 
opportunity  in  their  youth  to  come  into  contact  with  a 
stimulating  cultural  environment  through  wiser  and  larger 
educational  facilities;  and  if  the  brightest  were  carefully 
trained  to  see  the  boundless  opportunities  lying  before 
them  in  the  economic  and  cultural  worlds,  certain  effects 
would  inevitably  follow.  There  would  be  a  greater  re- 
finement and  morality  among  the  people  as  a  whole; 
many  would  become  far  more  capable  workers,  parents 
and  citizens;  and  still  others  would  carry  out  ambitions 
and  desires,  leading  toward  social  achievement.  Occa- 
sionally from  the  ranks  would  rise  a  poet  or  an  inventor, 
a  statesman  or  a  philosopher,  who  would  leave  an  im- 
mortal name.  If  a  nation  did  nothing  more  than  to  give 
systematic  and  scientific  training  in  the  industries,  labor- 
saving  devices  would  probably  multiply  in  great  num- 
ber, for  many  w^orkingmen  have  natural  ingenuity  and 
see  possible  improvements  in  the  machinery  they  handle, 
but  lack  the  knowledge  necessary  to  bring  their  ideas 
to  fruition.  When  the  unskilled  become  skilled  and  the 
skilled  become  scientific,  the  worst  part  of  the  social 
problem  will  be  solved.  When  all  citizens  through  social 
and  civic  agencies  are  brought  into  contact  with  the  best 
in  civilization,  democracy  will  prove  its  utility  and  justify 
the  visions  of  men  like  Jefferson  and  Lincoln,  who  trusted 
even  the  people  of  their  time. 


CHAPTER   XXX 

SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSIONS 

The  Beginnings  of  Sociology. — In  the  previous 
chapters  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  call  attention  to 
the  many-sided  aspects  of  sociology,  to  show  its  simple 
beginnings  in  ancient  social  speculation  and,  as  modern 
sciences  developed,  to  indicate  how  a  demand  arose  for  a 
synthesizing,  anthropocentric  interpretation  of  social 
phenomena,  which  in  due  time  called  itself  a  science  and 
assumed  the  name  of  sociology.  The  new  science,  as 
systematized  by  Comte,  received  in  England  an  economic 
impress  from  John  Stuart  Mill  and  met  a  rival  in  Spen- 
cer's system  of  sociology,  based  on  his  theory  of  evolu- 
tion and  influenced  by  the  biological  Darwinian  age  of 
natural  selection.  In  both  Comte's  and  Spencer's  sys- 
tems of  sociology  stress  was  placed  on  a  classification 
of  sciences,  emphasizing  the  unity  of  all  knowledge,  a 
point  of  view  continued  by  Lester  F.  Ward  in  his  system 
of  sociology.  Through  Spencer  also  came  a  definite 
classification  and  study  of  social  institutions  and  this 
precedent  was  followed  later  by  other  sociologists,  classi- 
fying social  phenomena,  institutions,  forces,  and  inter- 
ests. The  last  third  of  the  Nineteenth  Century  brought 
emphasis  on  organic  analogies,  varying  from  the  biolog- 
ical extremes  of  Spencer  and  Schaffle  on  the  one  hand,  to 
the  psychic  organizations  described  by  Giddings  and  by 
Mackenzie.^ 

'  In  his  Introduction  to  Social  Philosophy,  Chap.  III. 

491 


492  SOCIOLOGY 

Later  Developments. — Meanwhile  a  psychological 
influence  began  to  make  itself  felt,  first  through  Lester  F. 
Ward's  efforts  to  show  the  psychological  foundations  for 
sociology  and  the  necessity  for  education  as  a  basis  for 
social  progress,  and  then  secondly,  through  Tarde's  study 
of  the  laws  of  imitation,  which  exerted  so  powerful  an 
influence  in  the  development  of  social  psychology.  About 
the  same  time  Gumplowicz  advanced  his  teachings  re- 
specting social  groups  and  the  struggles  of  races  as  an 
explanation  of  social  evolution.  In  the  last  decade  of 
the  Nineteenth  Century  was  issued  Gidding's  Principles 
of  Sociology,  with  its  theory  of  the  consciousness  of 
kind  and  his  splendid  study  of  the  historical  evolution  of 
society;  and  in  the  same  year  (1896)  came  Patten's 
Theory  of  Social  Forces  based  on  a  pain  and  pleasure 
economy.  These  works,  along  with  many  others  re- 
ferred to  in  other  places,  unitedly  gave  form,  content,  a 
point  of  view,  and  an  aim  for  the  new  science,  which  was 
strengthened  from  an  ethical  viewpoint  by  Stuckenberg  ^ 
and  Small,  the  latter  also  stressing  vigorously  the  method- 
ology of  the  science  and,  along  with  Ratzenhofer,  the 
interpretation  of  the  social  processes  from  the  stand- 
point of  interests. 

During  the  entire  sociological  period  many  other  in- 
fluences brought  in  their  several  points  of  view,  such  as 
the  English  cooperative  movement  of  Robert  Owen  and 
Holyoake ;  Marxian  socialism  with  its  discussions  of  class 
struggle  and  economic  determinism ;  social  interpretations 
of  humanitarianism,  religion,  and  philanthropy;  anthrop- 
ological studies  of  all  sorts,  throwing  light  on  early 
civilization;  and  the  slow  transformation  of  English 
individualism  into  studies  of  the  sociits,  the  group,  and 

'^  Sociology,  vol.  ii. 


SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSIONS  493 

social  ascendancy  or  control  of  society  over  its  indixad- 
ual  members. 

Theories  of  Superiority. — Meanwhile,  Darwinian 
hypotheses  had  given  rise  to  a  many  sided  stress  on  the 
"surviving  fit."  Nietzschean  philosophy,  for  example, 
stressed  the  superman;  Gumplowicz,  the  superior  race; 
Veblen,  the  Leisure  Class;  and  Galton  made  a  careful 
study  of  "Hereditary  Genius."  Owing  to  these  influences 
came  discussions  of  leadership  through  individual,  class, 
or  race  and  their  place  in  furthering  or  hindering  so- 
cial progress.  In  Applied  Sociology  (Part  II)  Lester  F, 
Ward  made  a  careful  study  of  the  literature  of  genius, 
and  contrasted  the  respective  merits  of  "nature  and  nur- 
ture," arguing  in  behalf  of  potential  genius  and  its  need 
of  a  befitting  environment. 

Instruction  in  Sociology. — In  the  United  States 
within  the  last  twenty  years,  chiefly  through  the  influence 
of  graduate  schools  of  sociology,  there  has  come  a  rapid 
multiplication  of  departments  of  sociology  in  our  col- 
leges and  universities,  so  that  through  these  an  educated 
public  opinion  is  passing  into  public  and  professional 
life.^  This  is  supplemented  by  the  popularizing  of  so- 
cial teachings  through  the  novel,  the  magazine,  and  the 
"featuring"  of  newspapers.  Numerous  reform  and  phil- 
anthropic organizations  of  all  sorts  are  also  spreading 
broadcast  information  about  their  special  movements. 
All  this  results  in  a  general  public  opinion  favorable  to 

'  In  the  American  Journal  of  Sociology,  note,  for  example,  the 
following  articles :  F.  L.  Tolman,  Tlie  Study  of  Sociology  in  In- 
stitutions of  Learning  in  the  United  States,  May,  July,  September, 
1902.  January,  1903.  L.  L.  Bernard,  The  Teaching  of  Sociology 
in  the  United  States,  September,  igog.  Also  The  Teaching  of 
Sociology  in  Southern  Colleges  and  Universities,  January,  1918. 
F.  R.  Clow,  Sociology  in  Normal  Schools,  September,  1910,  and 
March,  1920. 


494  SOCIOLOGY 

social  reforms  and  social  movements,  and  to  sociological 
interpretations  of  current  happenings  and  past  history. 
This  movement  towards  a  socialization  of  the  popular 
point  of  view  is  merely  in  its  beginnings.  The  great  need 
for  another  generation  at  least  will  be  a  continued  empha- 
sis on  a  social  attitude  of  mind  through  the  many  aspects 
of  social  study  in  all  the  grades  of  our  public  educational 
system  and  in  the  numerous  professional  schools  of  the 
land.  The  lawyer,  the  physician,  the  clergyman,  and 
especially  the  teacher  should  have  impressed  on  them  so- 
cial interpretations  of  their  future  vocations,  so  that 
they  may  view  themselves,  not  as  competing  individuals 
struggling  competitively  for  survival,  but  as  members 
of  integral  groups  unitedly  forming  a  social  unity,  and 
stressing  the  principles  of  social  cooperation,  social -ob- 
ligation, and  a  common  interest  in  telic  progress. 

There  is  no  inherent  necessity  for  the  existence  of  ex- 
ploitation, ignorance,  and  vicious  excesses  in  social  life. 
Yet  our  numerous  social  evils  will  remain  permanently 
with  us  unless  society  socializes  human  desires  and  in- 
terests. Modern  psychology  makes  clear  the  possibility 
of  educating  and  directing  these  towards  social  rather 
than  anti-social  purposes.  The  psychology  of  the  Freud- 
ian school  frowns  on  the  suppression  of  desires  and  aims 
to  show  how  the  evil  in  man  may  be  sublimated  into 
useful  directions.  Behaviorism  seeks  to  ascertain  the 
objective  conditions  and  psychic  desires  that  lie  back  of 
social  activities,  and  social  psychology  shows  how  group 
control  may  mold  and  fashion  each  newer  generation, 
through  the  pressure  of  the  myriad  forms  of  public 
opinion. 

Social  Progress  Not  Inevitable. — Yet  the  inevita- 
bility of  social  progress  should  never  be  assumed,  least 


i 


SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSIONS  495 

of  all  for  any  given  national  group  or  type  of  civilization. 
Development  is  genetic  rather  than  telic,  and  genetic  de- 
velopment is  slow  and  erratic,  destroying  almost  as 
rapidly  as  it  builds.  Nations  characterized  by  natural, 
spontaneous,  genetic  movement  are  more  likely  to  "de- 
cline and  fall,"  than  to  "rise."  Progress,  to  be  con- 
sistently so,  must  be  telic,  previsional,  with  well-defined 
aim  and  the  bases  that  make  progress  possible  must  be 
understood.  These  have  for  the  most  part  been  men- 
tioned or  discussed  in  previous  pages  and  will  now 
briefly  be  enumerated  so  as  to  summarize  the  conditions 
for  progress. 

Importance  of  Physical  Environment. — In  the  first 
place,  in  a  eudemic  study  stress  must  be  placed  on  the 
importance  of  the  physical  aspects  of  nature;  climatic 
conditions,  whether  humid  or  dry,  hot  or  cold,  uni- 
form or  varied;  geologic  wealth  in  the  form  of  mines, 
oils,  fuels,  and  building  stone;  the  topography  of  the 
land,  including  its  plains  and  mountains,  its  seacoast, 
lakes,  and  streams;  fertile  soils,  the  flora  and  fauna  of 
the  land,  the  fisheries  of  the  sea  and  the  forests  with  their 
wealth  of  timber.  These  and  other  gifts  from  nature  are 
the  chief  source  of  national  welfare  for  they  are  the 
bases  of  life  and  should  be  utilized  wisely,  with  an  eye 
to  the  future,  consented  whenever  possible,  and  developed 
through  science  into  permanent  sources  of  wealth.  His- 
tory is  full  of  illustrations  of  nations  that  wasted  their 
natural  resources  prodigally  and  then  declined  in  power 
and  numbers  through  the  exhaustion  of  the  soil  and 
the  desiccation  of  streams,  brought  about  by  the  wanton 
destruction  of  forests  and  neglect  of  water  supplies.* 
The  policy  of  the  Netherlands  in  reclaiming  lands  from 

*  See  Huntington's  Pulse  of  Asia  for  illustrations. 


496  SOCIOLOGY 

the  sea  and  protecting  them  through  dykes  and  canals, 
shows  how  nations  should  study  their  natural  resources 
and  see  the  possibilities  of  conservation  and  improve- 
ment, thus  safeguarding  and  strengthening  national  life. 
In  the  United  States,  for  example,  one  should  expect  from 
national  forethought,  the  careful  husbanding  of  the  nat- 
ural wealth  under  the  soil;  the  preservation  of  our  forests 
by  scientific  cutting  and  replanting;  the  canalization  or 
embankment  of  streams,  with  suitable  reservoirs  and 
dams,  so  as  to  save  the  soil  from  erosion  and  to  fur- 
nish waters  for  irrigation  or  power;  the  construction  of 
artificial  harbors  when  necessary,  and  a  network  of 
roads,  tunnels,  and  canals,  so  as  to  make  easy  transporta- 
tion and  intercommunication  throughout  the  entire  na- 
tional area. 

Necessity  of  Food  Supplies. — Secondly,  attention 
must  be  given  to  the  production  of  foods  as  the  prime 
necessity  for  a  large  population.  Food  supplies  should 
always  be  abundant  in  proportion  to  population,  even 
if  prohibitions  on  the  exportation  of  foods  become  tem- 
porarily necessary.  Far  greater  attention  should  be 
given  to  the  building  up  of  a  food-raising  population, 
avoiding  as  far  as  possible,  for  safety's  sake,  a  system 
whereby  the  mass  of  foods  must  be  imported.  Nor  is  it 
enough  to  lay  stress  on  production  only,  attention  should 
be  given  to  the  multiplication  and  regulation  of  the 
markets  and  to  efficient  transportation  from  food  cen- 
ters to  the  markets.  If  transportation  and  marketing  are 
efficient,  production  will  take  care  of  itself  under  the  law 
of  supply  and  demand.  At  the  same  time  governmental 
agricultural  schools  can  do  much  to  aid  production 
through  a  study  of  soils  and  experimentation  in  re- 
spect  to   best   crops,   and   through,   the  importation   of 


SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSIONS  497 

blooded  stock  for  breeding  purposes  and  new  varieties 
of  vegetal  foods  and  fruits  suited  to  national  soil  and 
climate.  Tropical  productions  to  be  sure,  such  as  coffee 
and  fruit,  may  have  to  be  imported,  but  the  bulk  of 
staple  foods  should  be  produced  on  national  soil,  unless 
other  conditions  necessitate  a  different  policy. 

Need  of  Racial  Vigor. — Thirdly,  too  much  atten- 
tion can  hardly  be  given  to  questions  of  racial  vigor 
and  the  health  of  the  population.  Society  must  be  made 
up  in  the  main  of  vigorous  racial  stocks,  freed  from  the 
fear  of  starvation  and  from  a  dreary  routine  of  endless 
toil.  Healthy  bodies,  sound  minds,  and  leisure  are  the 
social  essentials  for  cultural  achievement  and  civiliza- 
tion. This  standard  is  by  no  means  so  impossible  of  at- 
tainment as  it  may  seem.  The  laws  of  physical  develop- 
ment are  so  well  understood  to-day  that,  other  things 
being  equal,  there  is  no  reason  why  society  should  not 
definitely  proceed  to  build  up  racial  physique,  aided  by  the 
youthful  science  of  eugenics.  Pure-food  laws;  the  study 
of  household  economics,  including  dietetics;  gymnasia  of 
all  sorts;  out-of-door  recreations  and  games;  parks  and 
summer  vacations  for  purposes  of  rest;  all  these  modern 
movements  aim  to  build  up  a  national  physique.  The  real 
difficulty  is  that  a  large  part  of  the  racial  stock,  because 
of  its  low  economic  status,  is  debarred  from  these  bene- 
fits. Sickness,  disease,  and  industrial  accidents  are  severe 
handicaps  involving  enormous  waste  and  are  largely  un- 
necessary. Efficient  health  departments,  well  financed, 
and  regulations,  enforced  by  an  intelligent  public  opinion 
might  almost  bring  about  a  condition  like  that  in  Butler's 
Ereivon,  where  those  afflicted  with  sickness  were  treated 
as  criminals,  because  through  their  carelessness  others 
were  exposed  to  danger. 


498  SOCIOLOGY 

Mentality  of  the  Race. — Fourthly,  racial  vigor 
should  not  be  considered  as  merely  physical.  A  good 
average  mentality  with  a  fair  percentage  of  talent  and 
genius  is  necessarily  important  for  social  progress.  Neg- 
ative eugenics  may  in  process  of  time  banish  from  so- 
ciety its  mental  weaklings  through  selective  and  segre- 
gational  processes,  but  the  real  problem  Is  Increasingly  to 
utilize  the  present  waste  of  potential  mental  energy,  now 
so  largely  repressed  or  else  expressed  In  non-useful  or 
harmful  directions.  Real  national  progress  will  never 
come  until  the  nation  grasps  the  thought  that  there  are 
enormous  possibilities  of  national  achievement  lying  dor- 
mant In  the  minds  of  its  unskilled,  Illiterate,  or  poorly 
trained  citizens,  awaiting  only  the  stimulus  of  educa- 
tion and  environment  to  call  It  forth.  The  undeveloped 
natural  resources  of  a  nation  are  as  nothing  compared 
to  the  mental  resources  hidden  away  and  awaiting  de- 
velopment. Nothing  is  so  deadening  to  national  enter- 
prise as  the  incurious  stupidity  of  neglected  minds  atro- 
phied from  disuse.  By  contrast,  a  nation  that  developed 
general  intelligence  through  education  and  a  stimulating 
social  environment  among  Its  citizens  and  directed  their 
energies  towards  socially  advantageous  achievements 
would  easily  become  a  center  of  high  civilization.  What 
progress  has  come  heretofore,  has  come  In  the  main  from 
the  Intelligence  of  the  higher  classes ;  when  the  masses  also 
have  suitable  opportunities  to  develop  and  use  their  brain 
capacity,  civilization  should  advance  by  leaps  and  bounds. 

Social  Institutions  Should  Be  Flexible. — Fifthly, 
our  chief  social  Institutions,  such  as  the  economic,  the 
familial,  the  political,  the  religious,  and  the  educational 
should  adopt  dynamic,  telle  points  of  view.  Admittedly 
they  are  conserving  Institutions  and,  sometimes  with  dis- 


SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSIONS  499 

tressing  tenacity,  they  hold  too  long  to  obsolete  rules  and 
systems  of  organization  and  to  customary,  sanctioned 
methods  of  functioning.  If  these  institutions  were  de- 
veloped, as  they  were,  by  comparatively  unintelligent  gen- 
erations of  former  human  beings,  does  it  not  seem  pos- 
sible that  more  intelligent  later  generations  may  be  able 
to  effect  improvements?  Every  institution,  voiced  by 
its  leaders,  should  keep  an  open  mind,  should  be  pre- 
pared to  make  modifications  in  method  and  organization 
for  the  sake  of  greater  efficiency,  and  should  aim  to 
slough  off  the  crude  and  the  outgrown  through  the  proc- 
ess of  readaptation  to  changing  conditions.  Institutions 
in  any  case  do  change  in  genetic  fashion,  but  elimination 
and  improvement  can  become  telic  even  in  institutions,  if 
only  leaders  with  vision  can  interpret  the  trend  of  the 
times  and  advocate  policies  of  amendment  and  revision. 
When  institutions  not  only  conserve  but  also  promote 
social  progress,  radicalism  will  cease  to  inveigh  against 
the  "bulwarks  of  civilization,"  since  these  also  will  have 
become,  like  the  British  Grand  Fleet  during  the  war,  sen- 
tinels apparently  at  rest,  but  with  power  under  control 
ready  to  advance  on  summons. 

Spiritual  Aspect  of  National  Life. — Sixthly,  a  na- 
tion should  realize  that  national  life  is  not  merely  a 
matter  of  eating,  sleeping,  working,  and  marrying,  but 
that  there  is  an  idealizing,  spiritualizing,  aesthetic  aspect 
of  life  even  more  important  than  the  economic  and  hum- 
drum routine  of  daily  existence.  Daily  routine  to  be 
sure  is  basal,  but  the  real  joy  of  life  comes  when  ideals 
of  goodness,  beauty,  and  truth  grip  the  heart  and  inspire 
it  to  live  in  an  inner  world  in  which  happiness  comes, 
not  from  the  full  stomach  or  the  bank  account,  but  from 


500  SOCIOLOGY 

the  joy  of  achievement  in  the  fields  of  the  moral,  the 
aesthetic,  and  the  intellectual. 

From  the  time  when  primitive  man  in  fleeting  mo- 
ments of  leisure  began  to  raise  interrogations  in  respect 
to  the  uncomprehended  about  him,  the  progress  of  so- 
ciety has  become  more  and  more  "spiritual"  or  cultural  in 
kind,  absorbing  the  energy  and  devotion  of  its  most 
capable  members.  Hence  the  importance  of  leisure  for  a 
progressive  society.  Increasingly  society  must  become 
able  through  economic  achievement  to  supply  leisure  to  its 
more  capable  members,  through  scholarships  and  fellow- 
ships, through  guidance  and  instruction,  and  through  fair 
financial  returns  for  achievements  in  science  and  in  art. 
A  salaried  clergy  furnishes  the  possibility  of  moral  and 
religious  achievement,  and  generous  prices  paid  for  works 
of  art  give  leisure  and  encouragement  to  those  blessed 
with   a  creative  artistic   imagination. 

It  is,  therefore,  clearly  worth  while  for  society  through 
its  institutions  to  be  ever  searching  among  the  younger 
generation  for  promising  youth,  touched  with  the  fires 
of  genius,  who  by  right  stimulation  and  training,  by  con- 
tact with  brilliant  minds  and  racial  achievements,  may  be 
spurred  on  to  emulate  their  predecessors  and  teachers, 
so  as  to  make  their  contribution  to  social  progress. 
Progress  comes  by  the  multiplication  of  achievement, 
not  material  only,  but  the  achievements  of  moral  stand- 
ards, spiritual  intuitions,  and  artistic  creations  in  archi- 
tecture, music,  sculpture,  and  painting.  For  this  reason 
democracy  will  always  need  its  elite,  its  leaders  in  public 
welfare,  so  as  to  keep  open  the  doors  of  opportunity  for 
all  those  who  can  rise  above  the  mediocre. 

The  Religious  Institution. — Thus,  society  is  learn- 
ing to  plan  for  the  sake  of  a  coming  world-wide  civiliza- 


SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSIONS  501 

tion.  Because  of  this  implicit  idealism  sociology  has 
sometimes  been  considered  a  sort  of  religion.  Comte, 
the  "father  of  sociology,"  even  worked  out  a  religion 
of  humanity  which  yet  has  its  votaries  in  the  so-called 
Positivist  Church.  Spencer  also,  in  his  synthetic  philoso- 
phy, ^  could  not  keep  from  enunciating  a  sort  of  cosmic 
theology,  and  his  statements  about  "The  Unknowable" 
used  to  be  widely  quoted  in  theological  circles.  But  so- 
ciology proper  is  not  a  religion,  and  in  its  teachings  Is 
plainly  inimical  to  many  of  the  accretions  that  to-day 
pass  as  religion.  To  the  sociologist  as  such,  religion 
is  one  of  the  aspects  of  social  life,  and  should  be  studied 
dispassionately  and  without  prejudice.  Religion  has  its 
great  social  institution  in  the  church;  it  has  its  law,  its 
customs,  its  teachings,  and  its  emotions.  It  has  a  his- 
tory of  achievement  both  good  and  bad,  its  leisure  class 
and  its  masses,  its  slavery  and  its  freedom.  It  is  sub- 
ject to  the  law  of  change,  with  resultant  degeneration 
and  elimination  on  one  hand,  and  survival  through  adapta- 
tion on  the  other.  Unquestionably  the  influence  of  com- 
parative science  and  philosophy  will  slowly  modify  its 
organization  and  teachings,  just  as  the  rise  of  the  state 
modified  its  functions.  Yet  experience  shows  that  hu- 
manity preserves  its  great  historic  institutions.  After 
countless  generations  shall  have  come  and  gone,  society 
will  still  probably  have  its  religion  and  its  church,  even 
though  they  will  widely  differ  in  detail  from  those  now 
existent. 

A  Religious  Element  in  Sociology. — Yet,  while 
sociology  is  not  a  religion,  concerned  as  it  is  with 
humanity  and  its  improvement,  it  finds  much  in  com- 
mon with  the  ethical  aspirations  of  the  church,  so  that 

*  See  his  First  Principles. 


502  SOCIOLOGY 

the  two  will  inevitably  unite  in  ethical  policy  in  coming 
years.  The  ethical  generalizations  of  the  great  religions 
are  broadening  out  into  a  common  teaching,  and  their 
ethical  applications  in  details  are  more  and  more  com- 
patible with  scientific  conclusions.  The  ethical  aims  of 
all  religions  and  sociological  teachings  will  increasingly 
harmonize,  just  as  the  theology  of  religion  and  the  best 
teachings  of  science  and  philosophy  tend  to  conform. 
If  this  be  true,  there  is  a  sense  in  which  sociology  may 
be  looked  on  as  kindred  in  spirit  to  ethical  religion,  since 
it  has  implicit  in  its  teachings  the  future  social  teachings 
of  the  church. 

The  ultimate  harmony  of  religion  and  sociology  in 
ethical  policy  is  curiously  foreshadowed  by  a  resemblance 
in  their  fundamental  teachings.  Religious  teaching,  for 
instance,  in  general  argues  that  the  natural  condition 
of  man  demands  that  he  repent  of  past  sins,  become 
newly  bom,  as  it  were,  live  henceforth  a  righteous  life, 
and  so  escape  the  pain  of  hell  and  gain  the  joy  of  heaven, 
thereby  winning  an  eternity  for  development  as  against 
the  petty  duration  of  human  life. 

Sociological  Idealism. — The  sociological  counter- 
part of  this  has  repeatedly  been  emphasized  in  the  pre- 
vious pages.  Man  is  born  under  natural  law,  he  lives  in 
a  pain  economy,  his  environment  wars  against  him,  and 
dooms  him  to  destruction;  disease,  misery,  and  vices 
shorten  his  days.  But  there  is  a  call  to  salvation.  In  the 
pulsing  brains  of  the  surviving  "fit''  is  bom  the  thought 
that  henceforth  man  must  no  longer  cringe  like  a  slave 
at  nature's  manifestations  of  power  but  must  compre- 
hend nature  and  demonstrate  his  sonship  through  his 
creative  achievements.  By  means  of  his  intellect  he 
learns  to  comprehend  nature's  laws,  utilizes  its  energy, 


SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSIONS  503 

and  thereby  builds  up  a  higher  and  happier  Hfe.  He 
gradually  learns  to  conquer  disease  and  to  sublimate  vice, 
and  by  setting  his  face  toward  new  ideals  he  seeks  to  build 
up  a  higher  nature  that  may  feel  itself  to  be  in  harmony 
with  the  universe.  In  so  doing  man  passes  from  death  to 
life,  from  a  pain  economy  to  a  pleasure  economy,  from 
genetic  to  telic  development.  He  no  longer  fears  the 
hell  of  nature's  eliminating  processes,  but  passes  by  de- 
velopment into  the  heaven  of  achievement.  His  delight 
is  in  overcoming  the  evil  in  life,  in  casting  out,  as  it  were, 
social  devils  by  healing  the  sick,  freeing  intellects  from 
captivity,  and  giving  food  to  hungry  minds.  Through 
achievement  he  adds  attainment  to  attainment,  and  de- 
velops a  firmer  idealism  as  he  strengthens  his  mind  by 
social  contact  and  quiet  meditation. 

He  learns  also  to  recognize  the  fact  that  humanity 
should  be  a  unit,  and  that  salvation  is  not  the  privilege 
of  the  west  only,  but  is  for  the  north  and  south  and  east. 
He  sees  that  mankind  is  neither  black  nor  white  nor  yel- 
low nor  brown,  that  it  should  recognize  no  distinctions 
based  on  sex  or  race,  but  that  all  unitedly  may  form  a 
common  brotherhood  who  should  share  their  social  herit- 
age, changing  the  selfish  exploitation  of  early  years  to 
altruism  and  social  service.  Finally  he  looks  forward 
to  the  time  when  man  will  come  into  his  kingdom ;  when 
misery,  vice,  and  human  discord  shall  have  been  out- 
grown, and  peace,  good  will,  and  joyous  emulation  in 
achievement  will  prevail  among  men.  In  anticipation  he 
feels  himself  to  be  part  of  this  glorified  humanity,  since 
he  also  does  his  share  in  the  world's  work,  and  builds 
up,  be  it  by  ever  so  little,  the  achievement  and  happiness 
of  mankind.  This  joy  in  companionship  with  men,  past, 
living,  or  future,  is  to  him  immortality,  and  when  death 


504  SOCIOLOGY 

comes,  since  he  also  is  a  true  son  of  man,  and  like 
Moses  has  caught  glimpses  of  the  promised  land,  he  goes 
gladly,  trusting  that  he  may  be  enrolled  in  the  fellow- 
ship of  Abou  Ben  Adhem.^ 

When  sociology  lends  itself  so  readily  to  a  sort  of 
religious  interpretation  of  social  movements,  it  is  not 
strange  that  many  persons  find  in  it  a  kind  of  inspiration 
for  life.  Back  of  statistics,  and  the  cold  logic  of  science 
is  a  belief  in  the  perfectibility  of  mankind.  The  per- 
fection of  humanity  on  earth,  however,  lies  far  in  the 
future,  and  it  may  be  that  many  thousands  of  years 
will  be  needed  before  its  possibilities  become  real.  Yet 
the  human  mind  is  so  constituted  that  it  will  continue 
to  dream  of  the  good  time  coming,  and,  as  it  frees  itself 
from  error  and  illusion,  its  utopianism  will  gradually 
merge  into  a  science  of  prevision,  and  social  energy 
will  strive  methodically  to  bring  about  a  social  recon- 
struction, founded  on  reason,  and  inspired  by  the  hope 
of  final  achievement. 

•  See  Leigh  Hunt's  poem : 

"...  I  pray  thee  then, 
Write  me  as  one  that  loves  his  fellow-men." 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The  following  references  make  up  a  partial  list  of 
works  relating  to  the  several  topics  under  discussion.  As 
few  foreign  works  as  possible  are  referred  to,  and  these 
mostly  in  translation.  Many  of  the  works  listed  con- 
tain bibliographies. 

PART  I 

Bagehot,  Walter: 

Physics  and  Politics.    New  York,  1873. 
Baldwin,  J.  Mark : 

Social  and  Ethical  Interpretations  in  Mental  Develop- 
ment, rev.  ed.     New  York,  1902. 
History  of  Psychology.    New  York  and  London,  1913. 
The  Individual  and  Society.     Boston,  191 1. 
Barnes,  Harry  E. : 

"Sociology  before  Comte,"  American  lournal  of  Soci- 
ology, September,  191 7,  pp.  174-247. 
Blackmar,  Frank  W.,  and  Gillin,  John  Lewis : 

Outlines  of  Sociology.    New  York,  191 5. 
BoGARDUs,  Emory  S. : 

Introduction  to   Sociology.     University  of   California 

Press,  1917. 
Essentials  of  Social  Psychology.     University  of  Cali- 
fornia Press,  1917. 
Brill,  Abraham  A. : 

Psychoanalysis.    Philadelphia.  1913. 
Brissenden,  Paul  F. : 

/.  IV.  IV.;  a  Study  of  American  Syndicalism.    Colum- 
bia  L^niversity    Series   in   History,    Economics   and 
Public  Law,  vol.  Ixxxiii,  1919. 
505 


So6  SOCIOLOGY 

Bristol,  L.  M.  : 

Social  Adaptation.    Harvard  University  Press,  1915. 
Chapin,  F.  Stuart: 

Historical    Introduction    to    Social    Economy.      New 

York,  1917. 
CoMTE,  Auguste: 

Cours  de  Philosophic  Positive,  third  ed.    Six  volumes. 

Paris,   1869. 
The  Positive  Philosophy  of  Auguste  Comte,  translated 

and  condensed  by  Harriet  Martineau.     London  and 

New    York,    1853     (two    volumes),     1896     (three 

volumes). 
Systhne  de  Politique  Positive.    Four  volumes.    Paris, 

1851-1854. 
Positive  Polity,   translated  under  direction   of  E.   S. 

Beesley.     Four  volumes.     London,  1875-1877. 
A    General  Vieiv  of  Positivism,  translated  by  J.  H. 

Bridges.     New  York,  1908. 
See  also  under  Levy-Bruhl,  Lucien. 
Congress  of  Arts  and  Sciences : 

Papers  of  the  Congress  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  eight 

volumes.     St.   Louis,    1904.     See   especially  vol.   v. 

Division  D,  Dept.  XVI,  "Sociology,"  and  vol.  vii, 

Dept.  XXII,  "Social  Science." 
CooLEY,  Charles  H. : 

Human  Nature  and  the  Social  Order.     New  York, 

1902. 
Social  Organisatio^i.     New  York,  1909. 
Crozier,  John  Beattie : 

Civilisation  and  Progress,  fourth  ed.    London,  1898. 
History  of  Intellectual  Development,  vols,  i  and  iii. 

London,  1897,  1901. 
Sociology  Applied  to  Practical  Politics.    London  and 

New  York,  191 1. 
Davis,  Michael  M. : 

Psychological  Interpretations  of  Society   (Section   II 

devoted   to    Gabriel   Tarde).     Columbia   University 

Series  of  History,  Economics  and  Public  Law,  vol. 

xxxiii.    New  York,  1909. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  507 

Dawson,  Miles  Menander: 

The  Ethics  of  Confucius:  the  Sayings  of  the  Master 
and  His  Disciples  upon  the  Conduct  of  "the  Superior 
Man."    New  York,  191 5. 
Dealey,  James  Q. : 

Textbook  of  Sociology  (with  Lester  F.  Ward).    New 

York,   1905. 
Sociology.    New  York,  1909, 
De  Boer,  T.  J. : 

The  History  of  Philosophy  in  Islam,  translated   by 
Jones,  Edward  R.    London,  1903. 
DuRANT,  Will: 

Philosophy  and  the  Social  Problem.    New  York,  1917. 
DuRKHEiM,  fimile : 

De  la  Division  du  Travail  Social.     Paris,  1893, 

Les   Regies   de  la   Mcthode  Sociologique.     2nd   ed. 

Paris,   1901.     Also, 
See  under  Gehlke,  Charles  E. 
Ellwood^  Charles  A. : 

Sociology  in  Its  Psychological  Aspects.     New  York, 

1912. 
Introducton  to   Social  Psychology.     New  York   and 
London,  1917. 
Gehlke,  Charles  E. : 

Emile  Durkheijn's  Contributions  to  Sociological  The- 
ory.    Columbia  University  Series  in  History,  Eco- 
nomics and  Public  Law,  vol.  Ixiii.     191 5. 
GiDDiNGS,  Franklin  H. : 

Principles  of  Sociology.    New  York,  1896. 
Elements  of  Sociology.    New  York,  1898. 
Democracy  and  Empire.    New  York,  1900. 
Inductive  Sociology.     New  York,  1901. 
Descriptive  and  Historical  Sociology.    New  York,  1906. 
Gillette,  John  M. : 

Sociology.     Chicago,  1916. 
Greef,  Guillaume  de: 

Introduction  a  la  Sociologie.  Two  volumes.  Paris, 
1 886- 1 889.  Note  series  of  eighteen  articles  in  Amer- 
ican lournal  of  Sociology,  beginning  January,  1903. 


5o8  SOCIOLOGY 

Les  Lois  Sociologiques,  second  ed.    Paris,  1896. 

La  Structure  Generale  des  Societes.    Three  volumes  in 

two.    Brussels,  1908, 
Precis  de  Sociologie.     Brussels,  1909. 
GuMPLOWicz,  Ludwig: 

Sociologie  mid  Politik.    Leipzig,  1882. 
Der  Rassenkampf.    Innsbruck,  1883. 
Grundriss  der  Sociologie,  second   ed.     Vienna,   1905. 
For  English  translation  of  first  edition,  see  Annals 
of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social 
Science.     Philadelphia,  1899. 
Hall,  G.  Stanley: 

Adolescence.     Two  volumes.     New  York,  1904. 
Youth,  Its  Education,  Regimen,  and  Hygiene.     New 
York,  1906. 
Hankins,  Frank  H. : 

Adolphe  Quctelet  a^  Statistician.    Columbia  University 
Series  in  History,  Economics  and  Public  Law,  vol. 
xxxi.     New  York,  1908. 
Hayes,  E.  C.  : 

Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Sociology.     New  York 
and  London,  1915. 
Hecker,  J.  : 

Russian  Sociology.    Columbia  U.niversity  Series  in  His- 
tory, Economics  and  Public  Law,  vol.  Ixvii.     191 5. 
Holt,  Edwin  B. : 

The  Freudian  Wish  and  Its  Place  in  Ethics.     New 
York,   1915. 
Howard,  George  E. : 

Reference  Syllabus  on  General  Sociology.    University 

of  Nebraska,  1907. 
Reference  Syllabus  on  Social  Psychology.  University 
of  Nebraska,  1910. 
Jacobs,  Philip  P.: 

German  Sociology.     New  York,  1909. 
Leary,  Daniel  B. : 

A  Group  Discussion  Syllabus  of  Sociology.    Buffalo, 
1920. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  509 

Le  Bon,  Gustave: 

The  Psychology  of  Peoples.    New  York,  1898. 
The  Psychology  of  Socialism.    New  York,  1899. 
The  Croivd,  new  ed.     New  York,  1903. 
The  Psychology  of  Revolution.    New  York,  1913. 
The  Psychology  of  the  Great  War.    New  York,  1916. 
Levy-Bruhl,  Lucien : 

History  of  Modern  Philosophy  in  France.     Chicago, 

1899. 
The  Positive  Philosophy  of  Auguste   Comte.     New 
York,  1903. 
LiBBY,  Waker: 

Introduction  to  the  History  of  Science.    Boston,  1917. 
Mackenzie,  John  S. : 

Introduction  to  Social  Philosophy,  second  ed.     New 

York,  1895. 
Lectures   on   Humanism.      London    and    New   York, 

1907. 
Outlines    of   Social   Philosophy.      London    and    New 
York,  1918. 
MacPherson,  Hector: 

Spencer  and  Spencerism.    New  York,  1900. 
McDouGALL,  WilUam: 

Physiological  Psychology.     London   and   New   York, 

1905. 
Body  and  Mind;  a  History  and  a  Defense  of  Animism. 

New  York,  191 1. 
Psychology,  the  Study  of  Behavior.    Home  University 

Library.     New  York  and  London,  191 2. 
Social  Psychology,  thirteenth  ed.     Boston,  1918. 
MoRLEY,  John : 

Diderot  and  the  Encyclopccdists.    New  York,  1878. 
Rousseau.     New  York,  1878. 
Parmelee,  Maurice: 

The  Science  of  Human  Beliavior.    New  York,  181 3. 
Patten,  Simon  N. : 

The  Theory  of  Social  Forces.  Annals  of  the  American 
Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science.  Philadel- 
phia, 1896. 


510  SOCIOLOGY 

Pearson,  Karl: 

The  Grammar  of  Science,  third  ed.    London,  191 1. 
Ratzenhofer,  Gnstav: 

Die  Sociologische  Erkenntniss.    Leipzig,  1898. 
Sociologie.     Leipzig,  1907. 

See  also  American  Journal  of  Sociology  for  Septem- 
ber,   1904,   pp.    177-188:   "The   Problems   of    Soci- 
ology." 
Robertson,  John  M. : 

Buckle  and  His  Critics.    London,  1895. 
Pioneer  Humanists.    London,  1907. 
Ross,  Edward  A.: 

Social  Control.    New  York,  1901. 
Foundations  of  Sociology.     New  York,  1905 
Social  Psychology.    New  York,  1908. 
Principles  of  Sociology.    New  York,  1920. 
Schaffle,  Albert  E. : 

Bau  und  Lehen  dcs  Socialen  Korpers.    Four  volumes. 
Tubingen,  1875-80. 
SiDis,  Boris : 

The  Psychology  of  Suggestion.     New  York,  1906 
The  Psychology  of  Laughter.    New  York,  1913. 
Small,  Albion  W. : 

The  Significance  of  Sociology  for  Ethics.     University 

of  Chicago  Press,  1902. 
General  Sociology.    University  of  Chicago  Press,  1905. 
Adam  Smith  and  Modern  Sociology.     University  of 

Chicago  Press,  1907. 
The  Caineralists.     University  of  Chicago  Press,  1909. 
The  Meaning  of  Social  Science.    University  of  Chicago 

Press,  1910. 
"Fifty    Years    of    Sociology    in    the    United    States," 
American  Journal  of  Sociology,  May^  1916  (whole 
number). 
Spencer,  Herbert: 

The  Study  of  Sociology. 

The  Principles  of  Sociology.    Three  volumes. 
Descriptive  Sociology  (eighteen  parts  planned,  ten  pub- 
lished). 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  5" 

Education. 

Note  in  this  connection,  F.  H.  Collins,  Epitome  of  the 

Synthetic  Philosophy  (New  York,  1889). 
See  also  under  MacPherson,  Hector ;  and  library  cata- 
logues for  full  list  of  works. 
Stuckenberg,  J.  H.  W. : 

The  Social  Problem.    York,  Pennsylvania,  1897. 
Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Sociology.     New  York, 

1898. 
Sociology.    Two  volumes.     New  York,  1903. 
Tarde,  Gabriel: 

La  Logique  Sociale.     Paris,  1894. 

L' Op  position  Universelle.     Paris,  1897. 

Social  Laivs,  translated  by  H.  C.  Warren.    New  York, 

1899. 
Lazvs  of  Imitation,  translated  by  E.  C.  Parsons.  New 

York,  1903. 
Les  Transformations  du  Droit,  fourth  ed.    Paris,  1903. 
See  also  under  Davis,  Michael  M. 
Trotter,  W.  : 

Instincts  of  the  Herd  in  Peace  and  War.     London, 
1916. 
Veblen,  Thorstein  B. : 

Theory  of  the  Leisure  Class.    New  York,  1899. 
The  Instinct  of  Workmanship.     New  York,  1914. 
Place  of  Science  in  Modern  Civilization.     New  York, 
1919. 
Wallas,  Graham: 

The  Great  Society;  a  Psychological  Analysis.     New 
York,  1915. 
Ward,  Lester  Frank: 

Dynamic  Sociology.    Two  volumes.    New  York,  1883. 

Psychic  Factors  of  Civilisation.     Boston,  1893. 

Outlines  of  Sociology.    New  York,  1898. 

Pure  Sociology.    New  York,  1903. 

Textbook   of  Sociology    (Dealey   and   Ward).     New 

York,  1905. 
Applied  Sociology.     Boston,  1906. 


512  SOCIOLOGY 

Glimpses  of  the  Cosmos.     Six  volumes.     New  York, 
1913-1918  (printed  posthumously), 
Watson,  John  B. : 

Behavior;  an  Introduction  to  Comparative  Psychology. 

New  York,  1914. 
Psychology,   From   the  Standpoint  of  a  Behaviorist. 
Philadelphia  and  New  York,  1919. 
Whipple,  G.  C.  : 

'  Vital  Statistics,  an  Introduction  to  the  Science  of  De- 
mography.   New  York,  1919. 
White,  Wm.  A. : 

Mechanisms  of  Character  Formation;  an  Introduction 
to  Psychoanalysis.    New  York,  1916. 
WuNDT,  Wilhelm : 

Elements   of   Folk   Psychology,   translated   by    E.    L. 
Schaub.     London  and  New  York,  1916. 


PART  II 

Adams,  Brooks: 

Lazv  of  Civili::aHon  and  Decay.     New  York,  1895. 

The  New  Empire.     New  York,  1902. 

The  Theory  of  Social  Revolutions.     New  York,  1913. 
Bloch,  Jean  de : 

The  Future  of  War,  translated  by  R.  C.  Long.     New 
York,  1899. 
Boas,  Franz: 

Mind  of  Primitive  Man.     New  York,  1911. 
BucHER,  Karl: 

Industrial  Evolution,  translated  by  S.  Morley  Wickett. 
New  York,  1907. 
Calhoun,  Arthur  W. : 

Social  History  of  the  American  Family.     Three  vol- 
umes.   Cleveland,  1917-1919. 
Chapin,  F.  Stuart: 

Social  Evolution.     New  York^  IQIS- 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  513 

Clodd,  Edward: 

Pioneers  of  Evolution  from  Thales  to  Huxley.    New 

York,  1897. 
Animism,  the  Seed  of  Religion.    Chicago,  1905. 
Davenport,  F.  M.  : 

Primdtive  Traits  in  Religious  Revivals.     New  York, 
1905. 
Dealey,  James  Q. : 

The  Family  in  Its  Sociological  Aspects.    Boston,  1912. 
The  State  and  Government.    New  York,  1921. 
"Ethical    and    ReHgious    Significance    of    the    State" 
(  pamphlet) .     Philadelphia. 
DoBBS,  A.  E. : 

Education  and  Social  Movements,  1701-1850.    London 
and  New  York,  1919. 
Donaldson,  James : 

Woman;  Her  Position  and  Influence  in  Ancient  Greece 
and  Rome.    London,  1907. 
DuRKHEiM,  fimile: 

The  Elementary  Forms  of  the  Religious  Life;  a  Study 
in  Religious  Sociology,  translated  by  J.  W.  Swain. 
London  and  New  York,  191 5. 
Ellis,  Havelock: 

Man  and  Wonmn,  third  ed.    London  and  New  York, 

1902. 
A  Study  of  British  Genius.    London,  1905. 
Ely,  Richard  T. : 

Evolution  of  Industrial  Society  (with  numerous  refer- 
ences).   New  York,  1903. 
FiNCK,  Henry  T. :  t 

Romantic  Love  and  Personal  Beauty,  revised  ed.    New 
York,  1902. 
Gallichan,  Walter  M. : 

The  Psychology  of  Marriage.    New  York,  191 8. 
Gamble,  Eliza  Burt: 

The  Evolution  of  Women.     New  York,  1894. 
The  Sexes  in  Science  and  History.     New  York,  191 5. 
Geddes  and  Thomson  : 

Evolution  of  Sex,  revised  ed.    New  York,  1901. 


514  SOCIOLOGY 

Gillette,  John  M. : 

Constructive  Rural  Sociology.    New  York,  1913. 

The  Family  and  Society.    Chicago,  19 14. 
GooDSELL,  Willystine : 

A  History  of  the  Family  as  a  Social  and  Educational 
Institution.    New  York,  191 5. 
Grant,  Madison : 

The  Passing  of  the  Great  Race  [neolithic] .    New  York, 
1916. 
Grogs,  Karl: 

The  Play  of  Animals.    New  York,  1898. 

The  Play  of  Man.     New  York,  1901. 
Grosse,  Ernst: 

The  Beginnings  of  Art.     New  York,  1897. 
HoBHousE,  L.  T. : 

Morals  in  Evolution.    Two  volumes.    New  York,  1906. 

Social  Evolution  and  Political  Theory.     New   York, 
1911. 

Mind  in  Evolution.    New  York,  191 5. 
Howard,  George  E. : 

A  History  of  Matrimonial  Institutions,     Three  vol- 
umes.   Chicago,  1904. 
Huntington,  E.  : 

Pulse  of  Asia.     Boston,   1907. 

Civilization  and  Climate.    Yale  University  Press,  191 5. 

World  Power  and  Evolution.     Yale  University  Press, 
1919. 
Keith,  Arthur: 

The  Antiquity  of  Man.    London,  1915. 
Kellar,  H.  a.  : 

The  Theory  of  Environment.     Menasha,  Wisconsin, 
1918. 
Keller,  A.  G.  : 

Homeric  Society.    New  York,  1902. 

Societal  Evolution.     New  York,  191 5. 

Through  War  to  Peace.     New  York,  1918. 
Kelsey,  Carl: 

The  Physical  Basis  of  Society.    New  York,  1916. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  515 

Ketkar,  Shridhar  V. : 

The  History  of  Caste  in  India.    Vol.  i.     Ithaca,  N.  Y., 
1909. 
KiDD,  Benjamin: 

Social  Evolution,  new  ed.    New  York,  1898. 

The  Control  of  the  Tropics.     1898. 

Western  Civilization.     New  York,  1902. 
King,  Irving: 

The  Development  of  Religion.    New  York,  1910. 
Kropotkin,  p.  : 

Mutual  Aid  a  Factor  in  Evolution,  revised  ed.     New 
York,   1 9 10. 
Larned,  J.  N. : 

A  Study  of  Greatness  in  Men.    Boston,  191 1. 
Leia,  Henry  C. : 

An  Historical  Sketch  of  Sacerdotal  Celibacy  in   the 
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Superstition  and  Force,  third  ed.     Philadelphia,  1878. 
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The  Economic  Foundations  of  Society.     New   York, 
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Contemporary  Social  Problems.     New  York  and  Lon- 
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Economic  Causes  of  War.    Chicago,  1918. 
Maciver,  R.  M.  : 

Community;  a  Sociological  Study.     London  and  New 
York,  191 7. 
Mackenzie,  A.  S. : 

The  Evolution  of  Literature.     New  York,  1911. 
Marvin,  F.  S.  : 

The  Living  Past.     Oxford,  1917. 
Mason,  Otis  Tufton: 

Origins  of  Invention.    London,  1895. 

Women's  Sliare  in  Primitive   Culture.     New    York, 
1900. 
Morgan,  Lewis  H. : 

Ancient  Society.    New  York,  1877. 
Nietzsche,  Friedrich : 

The  Complete  Works  of  Friedrich  Nietzsche,  edited 


5i6  SOCIOLOGY 

by  Oscar  Levy.    Eighteen  volumes.    London.    1909- 

1913- 
N1TOB6,  Inazo: 

Bushido:  The  Soul  of  Japan,  an  Expodtion  of  Jap- 
anese Thought.    New  York  and  London,  1905. 
Odin,  Alfred: 

Genese  des  Grands  JJommes.     Two  volumes.     Paris, 
1895. 
OsBORN,  Henry  Fairfield: 

Men  of  the  Old  Stone  Age;  Their  Environment,  Life 
and  Art.    New  York,  1915. 
Parsons,  Elsie  Clews : 

The  Family.     New  York,  1906. 

Religious  Chastity.     New  York,  1913. 

Social  Freedom.    New  York,  191 5. 

Social  Rule.    New  York,  1916. 
Pitt-Rivers,  A.  L.  :  ' 

Evolution  of  Culture.    Oxford,  1906. 
Ratzel,  Friedrich: 

The  History  of  Mankind,  translated  by  A.  J.  Butler. 
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RowE,  Henry  Hallock: 

Society;   Jts   Origin  and  Development.     New   York, 
1916. 
ScHWARz,  Osias  L. : 

General  Types  of  Superior  Men.    Boston,  1916. 
Seligman,  Edwin  R.  A. : 

Economic  Interpretation  of  History.    New  York,  1903. 
Semple,  Ellen  C. : 

Influences  of  Geographic  Environment.     New  York, 
1911. 
Simons,  A.  M. : 

Social  Forces  in  American  History.    New  York,  1914. 
Snider,  Denton  J. : 

Social  Institutions.     St.  Louis,  1901. 
Spencer,  Anna  Garlin: 

Woman's  Share  in  Social  Culture.    New  York,  191 3. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  517 

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Spencer,  Baldwin: 

Native  Tribes  of  the  Northern  Territory  of  Australia. 
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Sumner,  W.  G.  : 

Folkways.    Boston,  1907. 

Also  collections  of  essays,  compiled  by  Albert  G.  Kel- 
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The  Primitive  Family  as  an  Educational  Agency.    New 
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VoGT,  Paul  L. : 

Introduction  to  Rural  Sociology.     New  York,  191 7. 
Wallis,  Louis: 

An  Examination  of  Society  from  the  Standpoint  of 

Evolution.     Columbus,  Ohio,  1903. 
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Ward,  C.  Osborne: 

The  Ancient  Lowly:  A  History  of  Ancient  Working 
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Webster,  Hutton: 

Primitive  Secret  Societies,  a  Study  in  Early  Politics 

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5i8  SOCIOLOGY 

White,  Andrew  D. : 

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Woods,  F.  A.: 

The  Influence  of  Monarclis.     New  York,  1913. 

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PART  III 

Addams,  Jane : 

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A  New  Conscience  and  an  Ancient  Evil.    New  York, 
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Social  Heredity  and  Social  Evolution.     New   York. 
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Social  Environment.     Chicago,   19 17. 
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Principles  of  Relief.    New  York,  1904. 
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The  Schools  of  To-morrow.     New  York,  191 5. 
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1919. 


520  SOCIOLOGY 

Fairchild,  Henry  Pratt : 

Immigration.     New  York,  191 3. 

Applied  Sociology.     New  York,  1916. 
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Italian  Immigration  of  Our  Times.    Harvard  Univer- 
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Man-Made  World.     New  York,  191 1. 
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New  Creations  in  Plant  Life.    New  York,  1907. 
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Modern  Methods  of  Charity.     New  York,  1904. 

Correction  and  Prevention   (edited).     Four  volumes. 
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The  Abolition  of  Poverty.     Boston  and   New   York, 
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Work  and  Life;  a  Study  of  Social  Problems  of  To- 
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Iles,  George : 

Flame,  Electricity  and  the  Camera.    New  York,  1900. 

Inventors  at  Work.     New  York,  1906. 

Leading  American  Inventors.     New  York,  1912. 
Jenks,  Jeremiah  W.,  and  Lauck,  W.  Jett : 

Immigration  Problems,  third  ed.     New  York,  1913. 
King,  Irving: 

Social  Aspects  of  Education.     New  York,  1912. 

Education  for  Social  Efficiency.     New  York,  1913. 
Lloyd,  H.  D.  : 

Man,  the  Social  Creator.    New  York,  1907. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  521 

LusK,  Hugh  H. : 

Social  Welfare  in  New  Zealand.    New  York,  191 3. 
Mallock,  W.  H.  : 

Aristocracy  and  Evolution.     New  York,  1898. 

Social  Reform.     New  York,  191 5. 
Mangold,  George  B. : 

Problems  of  Child  Welfare.     New  York,  1914. 
Means,  Philip  A. : 

Racial  Factors  in  Democracy.     Boston,  1918. 
Mecklin,  John  Moffatt: 

Democracy  and  Race  Friction.    New  York,  1914. 
Miller,  Kelly : 

Race  Adjustment.     New  Y^ork,  1908. 
Morison,  George  S. : 

The  New  Epoch  as  Developed  by  the  Manufacture  of 
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Morrow,  Prince  A. : 

Social  Diseases  and  Marriage.     Philadelphia  and  New 
York,  1904. 
Nearing,  Scott,  and  Nearing,  Nellie  M.  S. : 

Social  Adjustment.     New  York,  191 1. 

Woman  and  Social  Progress.    New  York,  1912. 
O'Shea,  M.  V. : 

Social  Development  and  Education.     Boston,  1909. 
Parmelee,  Maurice: 

Anthropology  and  Sociology  in  Relation  to   Criminal 
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Poverty  and  Social  Progress.     New  York,  19 16. 

Personality  and  Conduct.     New  York,  1918. 

Criminology.     New  York,   1918. 
Patten,  Simon  N. : 

Heredity  and  Social  Progress.     New  York,   1903. 

The  Neiv  Basis  of  Civilization.     New  York,  1907. 

The  Social  Basis  of  Religion.     New  York,  191 1. 
Payne,  George  H. : 

The  Child  in  Human  Progress.    New  York,  19 16. 
Pearson,  Karl : 

National  Life  from  the  Standpoint  of  Science.     Lon- 
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522  SOCIOLOGY 

PoPENOE,  Paul,  and  Johnson,  Roswell  Hill: 

Applied  Eugenics.    New  York,  1918. 
Richards,  (Mrs.)  Ellen  H. : 

Euthenics;  the  Science  of  Controllable  Environment. 
Boston,  1910. 
Ripley,  William  J. : 

The  Races  of  Europe.     Two  volumes.     New  York, 
1899. 
RoBBiNS,  Charles  L. : 

The  School  as  a  Social  Institution.    Boston,  1918. 
Roberts,  Peter: 

The  Nezv  Immigration.     New  York,  1912. 
Robie,  W.  F.  : 

Rational  Sex  Ethics.     Boston,  191 6. 
Robinson,  Charles  Mulford : 

The  Improvement  of  Towns  and  Cities.     New  York, 
1901. 

Modern  Civic  Art.     New  York,  1903. 

City  Planning.    New  York  and  London,  1916. 
Ross,  Edward  A. : 

Sin  and  Society.    Boston,  1907. 

The  Changing  Chinese.     New  York,  1911. 

Changing  America.     New  York,  1912. 

The  Old  World  in  the  New.     New  York,  1914. 

South  of  Panama.    New  York,  1915. 

What  is  America  f     New  York,  1919. 

Russia  in  Upheaval.    New  York,  1919. 
Rowntree,  B.  S.  : 

Poverty,  a  Study  of  Town  Life,  second  ed.     London 
and  New  York,  1908. 

Unemployment,    a  Social   Study.     London    and    New 
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Rowntree  and  Sherwell: 

The  Temperance  Problem  and  Social  Reform,  seventh 
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Russell,  C.  E.  B.,  and  Rigby,  L.  M.  : 

The  Making  of  the  Criminal.     London  and  New  York, 
1906. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  523 

RussEXL,  R. : 

First  Conditions  of  Human  Prosperity.     New  York, 
1904. 

Strength  and  Diet.     New  York,  1905. 
Ryan,  John  A. : 

A  Living  Wage;  Its  Ethical  and  Economic  Aspects, 
rev.  ed.     New  York,  1906. 

Distributive  Justice.     New  York,  1916. 
Saleeby,  C.  W.  : 

Evolution:  the  Master-Key.     New  York,  1906. 

Parenthood  and  Race  Culture.     New  York,  1909. 

Methods  of  Race  Regeneration.     New  York,  191 1. 

Woman  and  Womanhood.     New  York,  191 1. 
Salt,  Henry  S. : 

Animals'  Rights.     New  York,  1894. 
Scott,  Colin  A. : 

Social  Education.     Boston,  1908. 
Smith,  Walter  Robinson : 

Introduction  to  Educational  Sociology.     Boston,  1917. 
Snedden,  David : 

"Educational    Sociology"    (syllabus).     Teachers'    Col- 
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Spiller,  G.  : 

"Inter-Racial     Problems"     (edited),    First    Universal 
Races  Congress.     London,   191 1. 
Stoddard,  Lothrop : 

The  Rising  Tide  of  Color.     New  York,  1920. 
Sumner,  W.  G.  : 

What  Social  Classes  Owe  to  Each  Other.     New  York, 
1883. 

War  and  Other  Essays.     New  Haven,  191 1. 

Earth  Hunger  and  Other  Essays.     New  Haven,  1913. 

The    Challenge    of    Facts    and    Other    Essays.     New 
Haven,  1914. 

The  Forgotten  Man  and  Other  Essav^.     New  Haven, 
1918. 
Todd,  Arthur  James : 

Theories  of  Social  Progress.     New  York,  1918. 

Scientific  Spirit  and  Social  Work.     New  York,  1919. 


524  SOCIOLOGY 

ToLMAN,  W.  H.: 

Social  Engineering.     New  York,  1908. 
TowNE,  Ezra  T. : 

Social  Problems;  a  Study  of  Present  Day  Social  Con- 
ditions.    New  York,  1916. 
Wallace,  Alfred  R. : 

The  Wonderful  Century.     New  York,  1898. 

Progress  of  the  Century.     New  York,  1901, 

Social  Environment  and  Social  Progress.     London  and 
New  York,  19 13. 
Walter,  Herbert  Eugene: 

Genetics.     New  York,  191 7. 
Warbasse,  James  P. : 

Medical  Sociology.     New  Y^ork,  1909. 
Warne,  Frank  Julian: 

The  Tide  of  Immigration.     New  York,  1916. 
Warner,  Amos  G. : 

American  Charities,  third  revision,  by  Mary  Roberts 
Coolidge.     New  York,  1919. 
Wells,  H.  G.  : 

Mankind  in  the  Making.     New  York,  1904. 

A  Modern  Utopia.     New  York,  1905. 

The  Future  in  America.     New  York,  1906. 

Social  Forces  in  England  and  America.     New  York) 
1914. 
Whetham,  Wm.  C.  D.,  and  C.  D. : 

The  Family  and  the  Nation.     London  and  New  York, 
1909. 

Heredity  and  Society.     London,  1912. 

Science  and  the  Human  Mind.     London,  1912. 
Wolfe,  Albert  Benedict: 

Readings  in  Social  Problems.     Boston,  1916. 

Periodicals 

The  sociological  journals  best  known  in  this  country 
are: 

American  Journal  of  Sociology,  published  bi-monthly 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  525 

from  July,  1895.  University  of  Chicago.  The  official  or- 
gan of  the  American  Sociological  Society. 

Publications  of  the  American  Sociological  Society, 
annual,  beginning  with  the  year  1906. 

The  Sociological  Review,  published  quarterly,  from 
January,  1908,  taking  the  place  of  the  Sociological  Papers 
issued  from  1905-1907  by  the  Sociological  Society  of  Eng- 
land.    Manchester  and  London. 

Revue  Internationale  de  Sociologie,  published  bi- 
monthly from  1893.     Paris. 

Annales  de  I'Institut  International  de  Sociologie,  issued 
from  1894.     Paris. 

Bibliotheqiie  Sociologique  Internationale,  Edited  by 
Rene  Worms. 

See  larger  list  in  American  Journal  of  Sociology,  May, 
1916,  pp.  785-788. 

For  studies  in  practical  and  current  topics  of  social 
reform  the  best  known  publications  are : 

Proceedings  of  the  National  Conference  of  Social 
Work  (formerly  National  Conference  of  Charities  and 
Correction),  annual. 

Russell  Sage  Foundation  Series.  Numerous  works 
on  constructive  philanthropy  are  listed. 

The  Survey  (the  name  assumed  April  3,  1909,  formerly 
Charities  and  the  Commons),  published  weekly  by  the 
Charity  Organization  Society  of  the  City  of  New  York. 
The  Survey  publishes  a  directory  of  social  agencies,  many 
of  which  issue  publications. 

American  Institute  of  Criminal  Law  and  Criminology 
issues  a  quarterly  Journ-al  since  May,  1909,  and  also,  under 
its  auspices,  the  "Modern  Criminal  Science  Series." 

Publications  of  the  Southern  Sociological  Congress, 
issued  at  intervals  since  1912. 

For  numerous  references  in  social  reform,  consult  the 
bibliography  in  Warner's  American  Charities. 


INDEX 


Abou  Ben  Adhem,  504. 

Abstract  science,  52,  57,  61, 
64.    See  also  Science. 

Accidents,  404,  406,  466. 

Achievement,  Achievements, 
9,  33,  116,  126,  144,  159- 
181  (Chapter  XI),  199,  311, 
448,  459,  468,  487;  animal, 
159-60,  203;  are  mental, 
160-2,'  163;  cultural,  162-3, 
298-300,  305,  306,  461,  481, 
500;  economic,  177,  179, 
315,  468-9;  genetic,  167-8; 
human,  160-2,  203  ;  ideals  of, 
178;  individual,  167-8,  486; 
material,  162-3,  297,  471 ; 
meaning  of,  164;  multipli- 
cation of,  311,  460,  485-7; 
scientific,  67,  371,  464,  472, 
487;   telic,    167,    168-9,   490> 

503- 

Action,   social,    112-117. 

Activities,  Activity,  social,  66, 
96-7,  277,  279,  372-3,  468, 
484,  490.  See  also  Prohibi- 
tions, Regulations. 

Adaptability,   social,   356,  375. 

Adolescence,  Adolescent,  250, 
351-2,  411,  433,  478. 

Advantages,  social,  136. 

Advertisements,  121,  125,  420. 

^schylus,  29,  87,  288. 

Esthetic,    103,   208,   299,   301, 


304,  351-2,  434,  480,  483, 
500.    See  also  Art. 

Aged.     See  Elders. 

Age,  Neolithic,  loi ;  of  dis- 
cussion, 29,  127-8;  of  the 
earth,  362-3 ;  of  heroes,  3 ; 
of  man,  loi ;  of  transition, 
6,  8,  282,  409;  psychozoic, 
362-63 ;  social,  20,  369. 

Ages  of  Hesiod,  3. 

Agencies  of  society,  362,  451, 
470,  478,  490.  See  also 
Education. 

Agricultural  civilization,  5, 
II,  298,  444. 

Agriculture,  10,  131,  149,  165, 
171,    224-6,    258,    321,    377, 

474,  496. 

Aim  of  Education,  488-9. 

Airship,  464. 

Alchemy,  37,  56. 

Almsgiving,  406. 

Alphabet,  19. 

Altruism,  86,  130,  135,  291, 
292,  359,  389,  403,  406,  444, 
464. 

Amalgamation,  156,  171,  194- 
5,  447;  evils  in,  449-50;  ra- 
cial,   380,    442,    444,    446-7, 

452- 
Ambitions,  135,  485,  490. 
America,       American.         See 

United  States. 


527 


52S 


INDEX 


A.mericanization,      223,      379, 

451-3- 
American  Journal  of  Sociolo- 
gy,   referred    to,    213,    453, 

493- 
Anarchism,  15,  91,  487. 
Ancestors,  186,  243,  370. 
Ancestor  worship,   11. 
Animal    achievement,    159-60, 

203. 
Animal    instincts,    203.      See 

also  Instincts. 
Animals,  domestication  of,  10, 

149,    165,  224;   kindness  to, 

27,  292. 
Animistic,  ii,  268,  269. 
Antagonism,     group,      111-12, 

467. 

Anthropocentric,  sociology  is, 
54,  58,  66-8,  4-91  • 

Anthropological,  Anthropolo- 
gy, 9,  18,  60,  70-2,  143,  145. 
441,  492. 

Anthropomorphic,  5. 

Appetites,  23,  439- 

Applied  sociology,  49'  52- 

Approbation,  social,  277, 
416. 

Arabic,  19,  22. 

Arbitration,  290,  466. 

Archaeology,  71. 

Aristocracy,     Aristocratic,    4, 

28,  30,  153,  255-6,  260,  262, 
349.  See  also  Classes,  priv- 
ileged, leisure. 

Aristophanes,  29. 

Aristotle,    4,    U,    29,    32,    33, 

232,      320-1,      327-8,      342, 

392- 
Army,  237,  452,  455.  474- 
Art,    Artistic,    Arts,    23,    371, 

500.    See  also  ^Esthetic. 


Asceticism,  88,  89, 

Asia,   18,  449,  451,  452.     See 

also  China,  Japan. 
Assimilation,    171,    195-7,   270, 

444.^ 

Association,  Associations,  hu- 
man, 12,  30,  33,  69,  265 ;  in- 
ternational, 263,  276,  290-1, 
366. 

Astrology,  56. 

Astronomy,  45,  53,  54,  59. 

Atavism,  97,  138,  338,  408. 

Attainment,        social.  See 

Achievement. 

Augustine,  Saint,  4,  31,  34. 

Authority,    147,  239. 

Austin,  John,  36. 

Australian  Blacks,  86,  109, 
no,  144,  194. 

Autocratic,  17,  317. 

Average  man,  236,  313,  332. 

Bacon,  Francis,  34,  35,  $7,  73. 

Bagehot,  Walter,  29,  187. 

Band,  hunting  or  war,  103, 
107,  184,  206,  222,  253.  See 
also  Group,  primitive. 

Beccaria,  35. 

Behavior,  Behaviorism,  Be- 
havioristic  psychology,  37, 
64,  85,  90,  94-8,  494;  abnor- 
mal, 98,  99;  animal,  95;  de- 
fined, 95 ;  social,  96-7,  99, 
100-117  (Chapter  VIII). 

Beliefs,  social,  109-10,  124. 

Bentham,  Jeremy,  14,  36. 

Bernard,  L.  L.,  493. 

Betterment,   social,   43,  405-6, 

479- 
Bible,   28,    73,   225,   320,    321, 
322,  412;  quoted,  28,  75,  76, 
158,  167. 


INDEX 


529 


Biological,  Biology,  37,  59-60, 

85,  ZZ7,  430,  484- 
■  Biological     teachings,      social 

importance  of,  80-83. 
Biology,   related  to  sociology, 

69-83  (Chapter  VI). 
Bishop,     Ernest     S.,     quoted, 

426. 
Bismarck,  quoted,  393. 
Blood-lust,  98. 
Bodin,  33,  114. 
Bolshevism,  16,  17,  318. 
Botany,  60,  69-70. 
Brennus,  The  sword  of,  393. 
Brethren  of  Basra,  32. 
British  grand  fleet,  499. 
Brotherhood  of  man,  291,  373, 

503.    See  also  Fraternalism, 

Humanitarianism. 
Biicher,  Karl,  7. 
Buddha,    Buddhism,    88,    346, 

393- 
Bunyan's   Pilgrim's   Progress, 

referred  to,  480,  482. 
Burials,  27. 

Burns,  Robert,  quoted,  291. 
Bushido,  284. 
Business,    179,   355,  357,  472; 

men,  177,  179-180. 
Butler's  Erewhon,  368,  497 


Caesar,  referred  to,  135,  223, 
225,  314;  quoted,  123, 

Campanella,  34, 

Canada,  418. 

Canals,  464,  496. 

Cannibalism,  106,  145,  150, 
227,  390. 

Capacity.     Sec  Potential. 

Capacities,  inherent,  192-3. 

Capitalism,  Capitalist,   15,   17, 


191,  319.  361,  393»  408,  457» 

465. 
Capponi,  Gino,  quoted,  287. 
Carlyle,  Thomas,  328. 
Carnegie    Foundation,    report, 

413- 
Caste,  Castes,  176,  187,  255-6, 

257,  320,  454,  469. 
Causation,  349-50,  377;  social, 

33-  44- 
Celibacy,  Celibates,  classes  of, 

135-  43i-3>  455- 

Century,  Eighteenth,  2,  4,  5, 
Z^,  34-6,  2,7,  81,  244,  292, 
324,  333.  365;  Fifteenth,  19, 
20,  33;  Nineteenth,  2,  4,  17, 
20,  35-6,  43,  79,  325,  451. 

Chang,    Doctor,    referred    to, 

25. 
Change,    social,    189,    369-70, 

470. 
Character,  331,  407. 
Characters,    79;    acquired,    5, 

79-82. 
Charity,    31,    292,    404,    454, 

456;  may  be  injurious,  400, 

407;  preventive  measures  in, 

406-7. 
Chastity,  2y,  30,  242,  244,  280, 

435.  439- 

Chaucer,  quoted,  283. 

Chemical,  Chemistry,  45,  59, 
484. 

Chicanery,  288,  413. 

Children,  250,  258,  295,  299, 
304.  309.  311,  337.  406,  480, 
488;  of  leisure  classes,  249, 
302,  488. 

China,  302,  307,  314-5,  319, 
363,  448.  See  aUo  Confu- 
cius. 

Chivalry,  244. 


530 


INDEX 


Church,  Churches,  276,  285, 
364,  421,  477;  as  a  social  in- 
stitution, 273-4;  relations  of 
the  State  to,  258,  259,  274-5. 

Cicero,  326,  327. 

City,  228,  380.  See  also  Ur- 
ban. 

Civilization,  2,  159-181  (Chap- 
ter XI),  486;  agricultural, 
5,  II,  298,  444;  backward, 
375-6;  is  constructive,  384- 
5,  486-7;  cultural,  see  Cul- 
tural ;  dynamic,  see  Dynam- 
ic; errors  of  past,  481-2; 
handicaps  to,  see  Handi- 
caps; high,  higher,  233-4, 
282,  301,  461,  462;  material, 
45,  297-8;  mingling  of,  32; 
patriarchal,  11,  24,  258; 
primitive,  143-5 ;  198,  278, 
325 ;  relation  of  cultural  to 
material,  173-5;  stages  of, 
33 ;  static,  see  Static ;  vv^est- 
ern,  171,  256,  276,  284,  365, 
369,  387;  400,  408,  471. 

Civitas  del,  4. 

Civitology,  34. 

Clan,  254. 

Class,  255,  284,  319,  453;  con- 
trol, 136-8;  distinctions  in 
culture,  175,  176;  domina- 
tion, 137,  138;  education, 
488-9;  leisure,  see  Leisure; 
middle,  233,  257,  319,  320, 
322,  324,  379;  priestly.  270- 
2,  481,  see  also  Clergy^ 
Priesthood;  warrior,  319, 
327;  struggle,  16,  162,  259- 
60,  323. 

Classes,  174,  176,  177,  187, 
228,  260,  288-9,  313.  45O' 
456,    462,    489;    hereditary, 


317-8;  of  celibates,  see  Cel- 
ibacy; oppressed,  320-2; 
privileged,     192,     232,     306, 

307.  317,  319,  336,  454,  467* 
469,  498,  see  also  Leisure; 
social,  7,  26,  133,  139,  443; 
the  real,  306,  311-12,  see 
also  Superiority. 

Classification  of  the  sciences. 
See  Comte  and   Sciences. 

Clergy,  272,  412,  455,  500.  See 
also  Class,  Priesthood. 

Climate,  Climatic,  33,  35,  59, 
1 12-14,  222,  455,  459,  495. 

Clow,  F.  R.,  493. 

Cocaine,  426-7. 

Code,  Codes,  26,  285.  See 
also  Morals. 

College,  Colleges,  352,  483, 
488.     See  also  Universities. 

Colonization,  257. 

Columbus,  364,  369. 

Commandments,  the,  277, 
321. 

Commerce,  156,  171,  229-30, 
270,  473>  474,  475;  reports, 
197,  475 ;  its  influence  on 
the  State,  256-7,  258. 

Commissions,  125-6,  468,  487. 

Communes,  30,  34. 

Communism,  15,  91. 

Competition,  98,  403,  446,  450, 
470;  in  economic  life,  473, 
474.     See  also  Racial. 

Comprehension  of  nature, 
197-9.     ^^^  olso  Nature. 

Comte,  Auguste,  14,  20,  37, 
40-43,  48,  50-3,  65,  182,  209- 
10,  268,  481 ;  classification 
of  the  sciences.  40-1,  51-3, 
58,  212-3;  religion  of  hu- 
manity, 56,  268,  501 ;  three- 


INDEX 


stage  theory,  4,  5-6,  35,  86- 
90. 
Conceptions,    human,    75,    82, 

239- 

Conclusions,  491-504  (Chap- 
ter XXX). 

Concrete  sciences,  57,  58,  60, 
67. 

Conditions.  See  the  particu- 
lar word  modifying  this 
term. 

Condorcet,  2,  4-5,  35. 

Conduct.  See  Prohibitions, 
Regulations. 

Conflict,   126-129. 

Confucius,  22-26,  78,  327. 

Conjugal  relationship,  239- 
241,  245-7.  ^^^  oi^o  Mar- 
riage. 

Conquest  of  nature.  See  X^a- 
ture. 

Conscience,  freedom  of.  See 
Freedom. 

Consciousness  of  kind,  109, 
151,  492;  social,  373,  468, 
482. 

Conservatism,    169,    172,    375, 

496. 

Constructive  policies.  See 
Policies. 

Consumption,  235-6. 

Contact,  mental,  12,  343. 

Contagion,  social,  119. 

Contract,  social,  34,  35,  88, 
342,  343-  441. 

Control,  class,  136-8;  distinc- 
tions in,  133;  social,  107, 
129-30,  187,  344-5,  372,  412, 
493:  through  the  elite,  138- 
o.  187. 

Constitution,  static,  378, 
380. 


Cooperation,  social,  7,  36,  139, 
199,  236,  492,  49^1. 

Copernicus,  36. 

Corporations,  74,  288,  317, 
380,   409,   457,   465. 

Cosmic,  Cosmology,  5,  6,  31, 
55,  215,  275.  328,  345,  462, 
478,  484,  501. 

Cosmopolitan,  7,  258. 

Courtship,   108. 

Crime,  Crimes,  133,  294,  407- 
16,  426-8,  449,  456. 

Criminal  code,  laws,  413,  414, 
416. 

Criminals,  30,  332,  411,  414, 
416,  426,  454. 

Crozier,   John   Beattie,  483. 

Cultural,  Culture,  16,  214; 
civilization,  131,  139,  162-3, 
178,  461,  485;  class  distinc- 
tions in,  175,  176;  develop- 
ment. 208-9,  297-312  (Chap- 
ter XIX)  ;  education,  303, 
400,  457,  467,  488;  ideals 
and  ideas,  180-1,  283,  300-1, 
306,  481.  482-3,  499. 

Curriculum,  the,  302,  408. 

Custom,  Customs,  29,  ic8,  124- 
5,  130,  208,  2=;8,  277-296 
(Chapter  XVIII),  469; 
primitive,  18,  no,  184; 
stages  in,  277,  372. 

Cycle  theory,  4,  7,  ZZ- 


Darwin,  Charles  R.,  331,  463. 

Darwinian,  Darwinism,  6,  37, 
42,  72,  79-83,  84,  188,  328, 
491,   493;   and   genius,   328- 

333- 
Davies,  George  R.,  335. 
Dawson,  Miles  M.,  22. 


532 


INDEX 


De  Boer's  History  of  Philos- 
ophy, 32. 
Dead  line,  the,  170. 
Degenerate,     144,     306,     317, 

450. 

Degeneration,  4,  8,  318,  374, 
408,  411. 

Democracy,  Democratic,  4,  28, 
30,  31,  138,  171,  260,  264, 
290,  458,  467,  490;  a  newer, 
336-8;  conditions  suitable 
for,  258,  261-3,  307,  336; 
ideals  of,  489-90. 

Demagogism,  4,  361. 

Depravity,  natural,  372. 

Descartes,   17. 

Desires,  102-4,  134-6,  183,  214, 
351.     See  also  Sexual. 

Despotism,  4,   192. 

Determinism,  economic.  See 
Economic,  Environment. 

Development,  early  social, 
143-158  (Chapter  X),  165- 
6;  telic,  295,  355,  444;  theo- 
ries of  social,  2-12,  151-8. 
See  also  Cultural,  Econom- 
ic, Genetic,   Progress. 

De  Vries,  79. 

Dickens,   Charles,  413,  479. 

Diderot,  35. 

Dietetics,   351,   400,   404,  425, 

433.  497- 
Discoveries,      scientific,      171, 

463.  464,  472. 
Discussion,  Age  of,  29,  127-8; 

freedom  of.     See  Freedom. 
Disease,  Diseases,  70,  359,  360, 

425,  436,  445,  455,  502.    See 

also  Sexual. 
Distribution,  496. 
Divorce,    242,    244,    247,   279, 

438. 


Dogma,  Dogmatic,  Dogma- 
tism, 66,  81,  131-2,  171,  270, 
272,  275,  276,  482,  483,  488. 

Domestication  of  animals,  10, 
149,  165,  224. 

Dormant  capacity  or  energy. 
See  Potential. 

Drinking,  social,  421-2. 

Drunkenness,  283,  426.  See 
also   Intemperance. 

Dynamic  civilization,  170-2, 
182-202  (Chapter  XII),  282, 
285,  363,  467,  470,  484;  de- 
fined, 182-3;  energy,  352, 
477;  movements,  365-6. 


Earth,  age  of  the,  362-3. 

Economic  achievements,  177, 
179,  315,  468-9;  competition, 
473.  474;  conditions,  173-5, 
176,  185,  262,  401,  435-6, 
454;  consumption,  235-6;  de- 
terminism, 115,  190,  204, 
207,  211,  368,  459,  492; 
development,  7,  221-238 
(Chapter  XIV),  367-8,  380, 
465 ;  distribution,  234-5 ; 
factors  in  social  progress, 
190-1,  351,  455,  459-475 
(Chapter  XXVIII);  insti- 
tutions, changes  in,  470;  in- 
terests, 218,  240,  259,  464-5, 
468,  475 ;  production,  16, 
234-5,  466,  496;  readjust- 
ment, 234;  regulation,  471; 
standards,  285,  432,  448; 
trend,  236-7. 

Economics,  61 ;  social,  14,  15, 
236. 

Economy,  pain  and  pleasure. 
See  Pain,  Pleasure. 


INDEX 


533 


Education,  128,  130,  208,  349, 
377,  395,  476;  agencies  for, 
483-4;  aim  of,  488-9;  class, 
488-9;  cultural,  see  Cultur- 
al ;  defective,  304-5 ;  as  a 
factor  in  social  progress, 
135,  367-8,  371-2,  492,  476- 
490  (Chapter  XXIX)  ;  as  a 
factor  in  temperance,  420-1, 
423,  425;  higher,  303,  480, 
488-9;  industrial,  457,  469, 
473-4,  477,  488,  490;  oppor- 
tunities for,  see  Opportuni- 
ties; public,  265,  473-5,  476- 
8,  480 ;  in  sexuality,  243 ; 
social,  478-9;  static,  138; 
telesis  in,  349-50.  See  also 
Schools. 

Efifort,  social,  199,  201. 

Egyptian,  21. 

Eighteenth  Century.  See 
Century. 

Elders,  107,  169,  315-16,  317, 
469. 

Elijah's  prayer,  132. 

Elimination,  465,  503 ;  of  so- 
cial evils,  see  Evils;  of  the 
higher,  456;  of  the  unfit,  30, 
330»  387;  of  the  vicious, 
440;  of  the  weak,  386,  399, 
430,  456,  498.  See  also 
Segregation,  Survival. 

Elite,  the,  117,  174,  303,  311. 
338,  349,  438,  440,  486,  500. 
See  also  Control. 

Elysium,  no,  360. 

Encyclopaedists,  32,  35,  145. 

Ends,  choice  of,  355-6. 

England,  448. 

English  social  writers,  35-6. 

English  Sociological  Society, 
53.  80,  453. 


Energy,  59,  219,  352,  358,  384, 
477,  487;  misdirected,  409- 
10,   416;   social,  382-3,   504. 

Ennui,  301. 

Environing  conditions,  8-9, 
190-1,  201,  350-1,  456,  478. 

Environment,  164,  279,  442; 
contrasted  with  heredity, 
79-83,  192-3,  410;  influence 
of  physical,  II2-14,  222, 
442,  459-60,  495-6,  see  also 
Economic  determinism;  man 
determined  by,  333-6,  384, 
461,  498;  modified  by  the  in- 
tellect, 5,  35,  164,  295,  309, 
460-2. 

Equality,  human,  322-3,  333, 
336,  442.  See  also  Woman's 
equality. 

Equilibrium,  154,  183. 

Epicurean  philosophy,  31,  35, 
89,  342. 

Error,  Errors,  39,  132,  481-2, 

504- _ 
Essentials,  social,  497. 
Ethical  standards,  280,  281-3, 

296,  345,  348,  395,  412,  440, 

445- 
Ethics,    52,    61,   64,    270,    291, 

392,   412;    social,    275,    282, 

289,  502-4.  See  also  Morals, 

Sexuality. 
Ethno,  -graphy,  -logical,  -logy, 

71,   loi,  204,  298-9,  441. 
Etiquette,  rules  of,  23,  281. 
Eudemics,  374,  455-6,  495. 
Eugenics,  80,  330-2,  411,  453-4, 

455,  497,  498. 

"Eugenics,  Euthenics,  Eu- 
demics," 372,  455. 

Euthenics,  455,  456-7. 

Evils,  449-50,  494;  the  elimi- 


534 


INDEX 


nation    of    social,    46,    385, 
375-440    (Chapters    XXIII- 

XXVI),  494. 

Evolution,  60,  152,  350,  373; 
social,  3,  72,  297,  492;  telic, 

368,  370. 

Exogamy,  194,  196. 

Experience,  18,  193. 

Exploitation,  31,  137,  139,  236, 
291,  321,  322,  390-7,  408, 
451,  457,  467,  472;  natural, 
390-1,  481 ;  restraints  on, 
393-4;  because  of  ignorance, 
394-5- 


Fall  of  man,  3,  26,  88. 

Family,  the,  1 1,  24,  185,  209, 
238-252  (Chapter  XV),  285, 
341 ;  the  animal,  159.  See 
also  Kinship. 

Fanaticism,  99. 

Fatalism,  Fatalist,  366,  381. 

Fate,  365. 

Fear,  supernatural,  45,  108-9. 
See  also  Supernatural. 

Feelings,  the,  88,  93,  215-17, 
439 ;  as  primary  part  of  the 
mind,  86,  93;  regulation  of 
the,  23.  See  also  Desires, 
Intellect,    Social   Forces. 

Fetishism,   267. 

Filiation,  53,  57,  205. 

Flexibility,  130,  131,  370-I, 
468,   498. 

Foch,  Marshal,  355. 

Food,  Foods,  10,  33,  70,  106, 
III,  113,  114-15.  174,  183-4, 
223-4,  442,  457,  460,  496-7; 
preservation  of,  224. 

Forces,  natural.  See  Utiliza- 
tion. 


Forces,  social,  49,  93,  104-5, 
134-5,  205,  214-6,  383.  See 
also  Ward  (Lester  F.). 

Forestry,  69. 

France,  French,  4,  5,  16,  35, 
292;  Encyclopaedists,  17,  81. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  18,  289. 

Fraternalism,  31,  139,  290. 

Fraternities,  287,  403. 

Freedom  in  morals,  293-295 ; 
of  thought  and  speech,  no, 
260,  272,  399,  465,  482, 
487. 

Freudian  psychology,  37,  98-9, 
434,  494.  See  also  Subli- 
mation. 

Friction,  social,  126,  128,  465, 
489. 

Functioning  process,  102-9, 
182. 

Functions,  social,  255. 


Galton,     Francis,    80,    330-5, 

453,  454,  493- 
Gauls,  123. 
Generalizations,    53,    56,    66, 

353-  369- 
Genetic,       126,       488,       495; 
achievement,  167-8;  develop- 
ment, 206-7,  278,  306,  317- 

8,  378,  392,  443,  444,  45 1, 
468,  481,  485. 

Genius,  308-9,  313-338  (Chap- 
ter XX),  346,  489;  ab- 
normal, 332-3 ;  ancient  be- 
liefs respecting,  326-8;  mul- 
tiplication of,  335;  social 
demand  for,  178-9;  the,  87, 
116,  127,  154,  176-7,  493. 
See  also   Potential,   Talent. 

Geology,  59,  484,  495. 


INDEX 


535 


Germanic,    Germany,    27,    31, 

226,  314,  449. 
Giddings,  Franklin  H.,  9,  53, 

85,  491.  492. 

Goal,  the  social,  368-9. 

God,  Gods,  29,  31,  80,  89, 
268. 

Golden  Age,  3,  26,  88,  91,  iii, 
145,  150,  322. 

Government,  15,  255,  259-60, 
261,  350,  366,  395,  447,  470; 
as  umpire,  466-7;  forms  of, 
255,  467;  improvements  in, 
467;  machinery  of,  264,  468, 
475.     Sec  also  State. 

Gradations,  social,  313-338 
(Chapter  XX). 

Great  principle  (similarity), 
the,  25. 

Greef,  De,  212-3. 

Greek,  Greeks,  3,  19,  29,  30, 
32,  123,  139,  297,  300,  303, 
314,  316,  342. 

Gregarious,  146. 

Groos,  Karl,  299. 

Grotius,  34. 

Group,  the,  175,  188,  320,  493; 
antagonism,  11 1-2,  467;  co- 
hesion, 106-9,  147-9,  287; 
difference,  154;  evolution, 
7;  morality,  286-7;  primi- 
tive, 7  (see  also  Band),  5,  6, 
101-2,  103-4,  183,  234;  safe- 
ty, 106,  108,  116,  147,  208, 
277,  279,  281,  286,  434;  so- 
cial, 12,  143,  167,  314,  366, 
486;   suppression,  99. 

Guilds,  317,  470. 

Guild  Socialism,  16. 

Gummere,    Professor,  27. 

Gumplowicz,  Ludwig,  7,  195, 
214,   492,   493;   quoted,   330. 


Hall,  G.  Stanley,  434. 
Hammurabi,  Code  of,  26. 
Handicaps     to    progress,     66, 

180,  262,  311,  363,  479,  497. 
Happiness,  36,  180-1,  263,  293, 

305-  357.  360,  363,  384,  458, 

485,  503- 
Harrington's  Oceana,  34. 
Hebraic,  4,  28,  315,  327,  328, 
Hector's  prayer,  132. 
Helvetius,  333-4. 
Hereditary  classes,  317-8. 
Heredity,   2,   75-80,    136,    177, 

192,  200,  331-4,  337,  343,  346, 

408,  453.    See  also  Environ- 
ment, social. 
Heritage,  social,  104,  no,  503. 
Hesiod's  four  ages,  3. 
Hierarchy,  7. 
History,  continuity  of,  31,  32; 

economic    interpretation   of, 

see  Economic  determinism; 

philosophy  of,  2,  17,  33. 
Hobbes,  Thomas,  17,  34,  73. 
Holy     books,     19.     See     also 

Bible. 
Homeric,  3,  27,  326. 
Hope,  the  stimulus  of,  133-4. 
Horde.    See  Group. 
Hubbard,  Elbert,  177. 
Humanitarianism,     291,     292, 

324,  361,  373,  391,  393,  489. 
Humanities,  the  newer,  50. 
Humanity,  2,  41,  359,  503;  the 

perfectibility  of,  25,  42,  50, 

172,  503-4. 
Hunt,  Leigh,  quoted,  504. 
Huntington,     Ellsworth,     114 

495- 
Huxley,  Thomas  Henry,  297. 
Hydroplane,  464. 
Hypotheses,  57,  66,  215. 


536 


INDEX 


Ibn  Khaldun,  32,  34. 

Ideal,  Ideals,  478;  of  achieve- 
ments, 178;  of  family,  249- 
50;  of  morals,  11,  281,  283, 
295-6;  of  race,  446;   social, 

30.  369,  373.  502-4. 

Ignorance,  294,  397-401,  424, 
479;  maternal,  248-9. 

Illegitimacy,  2"]. 

Imagination,  40,  66,  304, 

Imitation,  153,  299,  492;  con- 
scious, 98,  125 ;  rational, 
125-6,  129;  social,  124-6, 
440,  469. 

Immigration,  195,  202,  223, 
378-9,  451-2,  454.  See  also 
Migration. 

Immorality,  sexual.  See 
Sexual. 

Immortality,  360,  504. 

Immortals,  The,  166. 

Improvement,  social,  30,  361, 
370-1,  457,  478. 

Jnbreeding,  social,  no,  156, 
194. 

Incest,  108,  185,  194. 

India,  27,  32,  75,  76,  297, 
448. 

Indian  tribes,  449. 

Inairection,  382. 

Individual,  Individuals,  8,  183, 
293,  see  also  341-358  (Chap- 
ter _  XXI),  465,  470; 
Achievement;  as  related  to 
the  group,  175,  289;  the  so- 
cialized, 342. 

Individualism,  Individualistic, 
211,  290,  324,  341-2,  344, 
386,  471,  493;  a  social  ne- 
cessity, 347-9;  defined,  15, 
16,  341,  348.  See  also  Su- 
periority. 


Individuality  through  educa- 
tion, 349. 

Industrial,  Industry,  5,  27,  396- 
7,  474,  480. 

Industrial  Workers  of  the 
World,  16. 

Industries,  the,  228,  309-11, 
405,  469,  471. 

Infanticide,  156. 

Inheritance,  mental,  118-9. 

Inhibitions,  98-9,  113,  115,  122, 
183,  216. 

Initiative,  345,  488. 

Innovations,  no,  155,  170, 
271,  469,  470. 

Innovator,  Innovators,  29, 153- 
4,  156,  482. 

Instincts,  92,  95-9,  109,  1 12-3, 
119,  203,  215,  219-20. 

Institutions,  social,  2,  6,  7, 
27-8,  100,  130-1,  137,  138, 
143-338  (Part  II),  148,  189, 
478,  484;  classification  of, 
203-220  (Chapter  XIII), 
491;  defined,  205-6;  flexibil- 
ity, 6,  498;  study  of,  209-20. 
See  also  Spencer  (Her- 
bert),  Static. 

Intellect,  18,  98,  203,  298,  300, 
347;  as  a  guide  to  the  feel- 
ings, 93,  96,  109,  203,  216, 
348,  429,  438;  as  a  modifier 
of  environment.  See  also 
Environment;  training  of 
the,  347,  352-4. 

Intemperance,  417-428;  physi- 
ological aspects  of,  423-4; 
psychological  aspects  of, 
422-3. 

Interests,  153,  170,  205,  214-5, 
346,  367,  465,  470,  477,  492, 
494;   clash  of,  287;   regula- 


INDEX 


537 


tion  of  economic,  see  Eco- 
nomic; social,  103-4,  138, 
217;  unity  of,  143. 

International  associations,  276, 
290-1,  366. 

Interpretation,  social,  27,  286, 
299,  492,  494;  of  history. 
See  Economic  determinism. 

Invention,  67,  309,  377,  457, 
464,  471-3,  483,  490. 

Inventors,  463,  472. 

Investigations,  359,  467. 


Japan,  Japanese,  the,  171,  284, 

366,  448. 
Job,  Book  of,  29. 
Judges,  413. 

Judgments,  347,  354,  355- 
Jukes-Edwards,  411. 
Jurists,  413,  414. 
Justice,    28,    30,    35,    91,    322, 

407,  413,  467. 
Juvenile  Court,  284,  411,  415. 


Karma,  76. 

Keller,  A.  G.,  27. 

Khaldun,  Ibn,  32,  34. 

Kidd,  Benjamin,  224,  393. 

Kin,  Kindred,  Kinship,  11, 
108,  146,  185,  240,  247-8, 
393,  403 ;  animal,  loi ;  de- 
fined, 238-9. 

Kipling's  Captains  Coura- 
geous, 435- 

Knowledge,  64,  271,  353,  397- 
8,  477,  478,  479;  absolute, 
51,  481 ;  importance  of,  354- 
5;  relativity  of,  51,  65,  131- 
3;  scientific,  272,  355,  463, 
484-5;  unity  of,  57,  484,  491. 


Kropotkin,   Prince,   160,   188. 

Knltnr,  31,  82,  196. 

Labor,  7,  139,  226,  231-2,  310- 
II,  394,  405,  452,  469;  child, 
425 ;  disputes,  466 ;  hours  of, 
310-11,  466;  unions,  139, 
394,  403,  465,  466;  un- 
skilled, 231,  233,  236,  294, 
370,  404,  423,  457.  See  also 
Proletariat. 

Laissez-faire,  92,  191,  324. 

Lamarck,  5,  79. 

Land,   10,  452. 

Language,  28,  71,  148,  160, 
165,   166,  299,  480. 

Law,  Laws,  24,  34,  244,  253-4, 
254,  255,  260,  261,  264,  277, 
418;     civil,     395;     criminal, 

283,  395,  413;   Roman,  257, 

284,  286;    scientific,    264-5, 
286,  465 ;  social,  44. 

Lawmaking,  467-8,     See  also 

Legislation. 
Law  schools,  413. 
Lawton,  W.  C,  3. 
Lawyer,  the,  288,  394,  413. 
Leaders    in    society,    22,    107, 

136,    168,    316,    356,    385-6, 

443,  483-  493,  500. 

League  of  Nations,  366,  404-5. 

Legal  system,  394,  413. 

Legislation,  36,  131,  135,  468. 
See  also  Lawmaking;  scien- 
tific, 457,  465,  472. 

Legislative  reference  bureau, 
468. 

Leisure,  22,  163,  191,  201,  208, 
230,   298,   309-11,   500. 

Leisure  class,  117,  163,  174, 
254,  263,  288,  301-3,  307, 
392,  454,  see  also  Elite, 
Priestly,  Professional;  chil- 


538 


INDEX 


dren  of  the,  249,  302,  488; 
degenerate  members  of, 
306;  rise  of  a,  227-8,  482. 

Levy-Bruhl,  53,  65. 

Lex  talionis,  26,  408. 

Liberty,   Equality,   Fraternity, 

35- 

License  system,  419,  420. 

Licentiousness,  242. 

Life,  75-80;  duration  of  hu- 
man, 59,  72,  loi,  362-3; 
sanctity  of,  434;  standards 
of,  231,  233,  236,  373,  379, 
see  also  Standards;  the 
simple,  91,  145,  293,  386; 
the  strenuous,  364. 

"Life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit 
of  happiness,"  16,  325. 

Liquors,  419-20,  422. 

Litigation,  413,  472. 

Locke,  John,  34,  35,  79,  81. 

Logic,  Logical,  165,  504. 

Lombroso,  332-3,  410. 

Loria,  232. 

Lucretius,  43. 

Luther,  Martin,  33. 

Lynching,  97,  98,  121,  122,  408, 
412. 


Machiavelli,  287,  328,  393,  408. 

Mackenzie,  J.  S.,  64,  84,  488, 
491. 

Magic,  56,  268,  270. 

Malthus,  Malthusianism,  36, 
115-  149.  231,  321. 

Man,  age  of,  see  Life;  de- 
termined by  Environment, 
see  Environment ;  exploita- 
tion of,  391-2;   unity  of,  2, 

II,  31- 
Mandataries,  444. 


Manufactures,  10,  229,  233. 

Manu,  Laws  of,  27. 

Marriage,  27,  108,  432-3,  437- 
8;  conjugal  relationships  in, 
239-41,  245-7,  438;  freedom 
of  contract  in,  243;  institu- 
tion of,  II,  194,  218,  239, 
240;  monogamous,  11,  241, 
243,  244,  245;  permanency 
of,  247;  prohibitions  on, 
194,  430.  455;  regulations 
of,  108,  242. 

Marsiglio,  33. 

Marx  Karl,  Marxian,  16,  115, 

Z^Z,  368,  394,  492. 
Masses,  The,  28,  82,  83,  136-8, 

168,    191,    201,    313,    321-5, 

360,    392-3,    442,    443,    456, 

462,  498. 
Material    achievement,    162-3, 

297,     471 ;     civilization,     45, 

297-8. 
Mathematics,  52,  56,  59,  165. 
Matriarchal,  11,  75,  238-9. 
Medical  science,  271,  435-6. 
Memorization,    Memory,    353, 

354- 

Mendel,  79,  83. 

Mental  processes,  352-4.  See 
also  Intellect,  Mind,  Primi- 
tive. 

Metals,  Myth  of  the,  y6,  326. 

Metaphysical  stage,  6,  6^, 
88-9.    See  also  Stages. 

Methodism,  81,  324. 

Metronymic,  11,  75,  238-9. 

Middle  class.     See  Class. 

"Might  is  right,"  393. 

Migration,  148-9,  171,  195, 
223,  442.  See  also  Immi- 
gration. 

Militaristic,  6,  9,  342. 


INDEX 


539 


Mill,  John  Stuart,  6,  14, 36,  491. 

Milton's  Paradise  Lost,  3,  87, 
326. 

Mind,  Minds,  12,  116,  200;  de- 
velopment of,  86-90,  168, 
301;  receptive,  303;  social, 
85,  93,  116;  warped,  489. 
See   also    Intellect,    Mental. 

Misery,  456.    See  also  Pain. 

Misoneism,  no. 

^Missionary,  Missions,  324,  445. 

Modernism,  364. 

Modification.  6"^^  Environ- 
ment, Intellect. 

Mohammedanism,  32,  276,  445. 

Monism,  215. 

Monog-amy.     See  Marriage. 

Monopolies,  177,  191,  236,  260, 
318,  457,  469,  470,  471,  472. 

Monotheism,   11. 

Montesquieu,  17,  35-36,  113. 

Morals,  9,  180;  codes  of,  283, 
289;  development  of,  2yy- 
296  (Chapter  XVIII)  ;  dif- 
fering codes  of,  281-5;  free- 
dom in,  293,  295 ;  group, 
286-7;  higher  standards  in, 
see  Standards ;  ideals  in, 
see  Ideals;  institution  of, 
207,  277-296  (Chapter 
XVIII)  ;  prohibitions  on, 
see  Prohibitions ;  regula- 
tion in,  see  Regulations; 
scientific  bases  for,  180,  292- 
5;  toleration  in,  290-1.  See 
also  Sexual,  Sexuality. 

More,  Thomas,  34, 66,  368, 488. 

Morris,  William,  396,  415. 

Movements,  dynamic,  365-6. 

Mutations,     mutation     theory, 

79,  325- 
Mutual  aid,  188. 


Narcotics,  412,  417,  426-7. 

National,  Nations,  161-2,  189, 
191-2,  196,  202,  237,  251, 
263,  314,  315,  336,  364,  446, 
454,  473;  League  of,  366, 
404-5 ;    rise   and    fall   of,   7, 

8,  72,  ^72,  191,  229,  443,  447, 
490,  494. 

National  life,  spiritual  aspects 

of,  499-500. 
Naturalization,   379, 
Natural,  Nature,  164,  329,  330, 

359,  463;  conquest  of,   197- 

9,  461-2,  463,  see  also 
Utilization;  human,  i,  356, 
443;  selection,  390,  403,  see 
also   Survival;  state  of,  88, 

145,  342. 

Navy,  237,  455,  474. 

Negro,  378,  449,  451,  452. 

Neolithic,  loi. 

Nervous  system,  299,  383,  443. 

Nestor,  316. 

Netherlands,  the,  495. 

Nietzsche,  Friedrich,  151,  314, 
329-30,  408,  493. 

Nineteenth  century.  See  Cen- 
tury. 

Nirvana,  76. 

Nobility.    See  Classes. 

Nomadism,  5,  33,  224-6. 

"No  new  thing  under  the 
sun,"  128,  370. 


Occupation,  Occupations,  15, 
357-8,  455,  457,  469,  470, 
473.     See  also  Vocations. 

Odin,  334. 

Oligarchy,  4,  257,  259,  261. 

Opiates,  426-7. 

Opinion,  public,  109,  119,  134, 


540 


INDEX 


192,  281,  287,  394,  397,  412, 

465,  467,  479,  493- 
Opportunities  for  education,  5, 

33,  201,  261,  263,  303,  333-5, 

489,  490. 
Opportunity,  a  fair,  30,  200-2, 

233-  318,  337-8,  373,  407. 
Optimism,  50,  82,  365,  381. 
Oracles,  19. 
Order,  social,  49,  50,  66,  100, 

113,  182,  345- 
Organic  theory,  4,  342,  491. 
Organisms,  41. 
Origins,    human,    441 ;    social, 

28,  59,  60,  71,  ']2,  143-4. 
Output,  466. 
Ovid,  3,  4,  145.  150- 
Ovum,  mammalian,  75,  79,  239. 
Ow^en,  John,  29. 
Owen,  Robert,  14,  36,  381,  492. 


Pain,  95,  263,  360,  361. 
Pain  economy,   7-9,    191,  208, 

293,  360,  503- 
Palissy,  Bernard,  136. 
Panaceas,    social,    29,   39,    50, 

66,  92,  361. 
Pantheism,  11,  268. 
Parables,  32. 
Parallelisms,  social,  204. 
Parasites,  social,  236,  312,  318, 

395,  406. 
Parenthood,  problems  of,  74-5. 
Parsees,  26. 
Parthenogenesis,  74. 
Parties,  political,  259. 
Patent  medicines,  428. 
Patents,  461,  464,  470,  471-2. 
Paternalism,  344. 
Patriarchal     civilization.     See 

Agricultural,  Nomadic. 


Patronymic,  75,  239. 

Patten,    Simon   N.,   360,   492; 

quoted,  7-9,  293. 
Paul,  quoted,  123. 
Pauperism,     174,    373,    402-7 

449,     454,     456.     See    also 

Poverty. 
Peasant    population,    33,    227, 

321-3- 
Penologists,  411,  414,  454. 
Peonage,  391. 
Perfection   (Perfectibility)   of 

humanity,  5,  12,  61,  360,  504. 
Persecution,      religious,      2^2, 

482. 
Pericles,  342. 
Personality,     importance     of, 

139,  163,  345,  351,  356,  372. 

438,  439- 
Perverts,  434. 
Pessimism,  y2,  73,  82,  265,  360, 

366,  370,  381,  382. 
Phenomena,  social,  20,  39,  40, 

41,  42,  44,  61,  62,  205,  476, 

491. 
Philology,  71. 

Philosophers,  88,  173,  268,  481. 
Philosophy,    5,    19,    208,    297, 

484;   Epicurean,  31,  35,  89, 

342;   of  history,  2,    17,  33; 

related    to    sociology,    63-5, 

483;    social,    3,   21,    28,   31, 

34.  45,  65;  Stoic,  6,  31,  35, 

393- 

Phrenology,  37,  90. 

Physical  culture,  69;  environ- 
ment, see  Environment. 

Physician,  the,  427,  428. 

Physiology?-,  60,  69,  70,  411, 
433;  social,  182. 

Physique,  human,  346,  ^50, 
442,  460,  497. 


INDEX 


541 


Physics,  37,  45,  59,  482. 

Plasticity,  social,  122-3. 

Plato,  4,  17,  25,  29,  30,  32,  33, 
72,  y6,  232,  298,  307,  320, 
323,  327-8,  369,  392,  453, 
481 ;  Myth  of  the  metals, 
quoted,  76-7,  326;  on 
woman's  equality,  quoted, 
77-8. 

Play,  220,  480,  484.  See  also 
Recreational. 

Pleasure,  95,  357.  See  also 
Happiness. 

Pleasure    economy,    7-9,    191, 

293.  503- 

Plebeian,  33,  y2»  Z^?>- 

Points  of  view,  social,  43-4. 

Policies,  Policy,  constructive, 
20,  25,  38,  173,  190,  202,  265, 
372-3.  455.  457.  468;  social, 
399-401,  433-5,  455;  telic, 
366-7,  376,  380,  381,  393, 
404,  416,  424-5,  456,  476-7. 

Political  institution,  the,  253- 
266  (Chapter  XVI),  485. 
See  also  Government,  State. 

Politician,  361,  468, 

Politics,  61. 

Polybius,  4. 

Polygamy,  242,  245. 

Polytheism,   11,  270. 

Population,  7,  378. 

Positivist,  Positivity,  6,  32,  37, 
56,  501. 

Posterity,  243. 

Potential  talent  and  genius, 
68,  200-1,  252,  308-9,  333-5, 

374,  453,  478,  490,  493.  499. 
500. 
Poverty,  402-7,  424,  see  also 
Pauperism;   causes  of,  402- 
Z,  404- 


Press,  the,  138,  493. 

Pressure,  social,  123-4, 

Prestige,  137,  391. 

Prevision,  41,  350,  468,  482, 
504;  social,  65-6,  85. 

Priest,  Priesthood,  109,  270-2, 
2f3,  481.  See  also  Clas% 
Clergy. 

Primitive  civilization,  143-S, 
198,  278,  325;  customs,  18, 
no,  184;  family,  238-9; 
group,  5,  6,  101-2,  103-4, 
183,  234,  see  also  Band; 
mentality,  86,  104,  146,  150, 
164,   197;   savage,   17-18, 

Principles,  6,  30,  144.  See  also 
Sociological. 

Printing,  art  of,  5,  19,  171, 
196,  482. 

Private  property.  See  Prop- 
erty. 

Privileged  classes.  See  Classes. 

Problems,  economic,  38a  465; 
educational,     380-1 ;     social, 

47-8,  ?>7^,  429.  458,  463.  465. 
Processes,  see  Intellect,  Mind; 

functioning,       102-9,       182; 

mental,    352-4;    social,    13, 

102,  492. 
Production,     16,     234-5,     466, 

496. 
Professional,    268,    288,    319, 

473.  474.  493- 

Profits,  457. 

Progress,  social,  see  341-504 
(Part  III)  and  especially; 
359-374  (Chapter  XXII),  9, 
11-12,  20,  31,  42,  50,  63, 
67,  92,  192-3,  195,  249,  333, 
370,  382,  483,  493,  494,  500; 
basis  for,  83,  194-202;  eco- 
nomic    factors,     see     Eco- 


542 


INDEX 


nomic ;  educational  factors, 
see  Education;  handicaps 
to,  see  Handicaps;  na- 
tional, 172-3,  see  Eu- 
demics;  racial  factors,  see 
Racial. 

Prohibition,  417-8,  425,  426. 

Prohibitions  on  activities  and 
conduct,  147,  277,  278,  283, 
295,  Zl'^-    See  also  Tabu. 

Proletariat,  the,  17,  31,  99, 
323,  360,  379,  388,  435,  452, 
456,  462.  See  also  Labor 
(Unskilled). 

Prometheus,  29,  87, 

Property,  lO-ii,  11 1,  245,  316; 
communal,  11,  231,  234,  288; 
private,  1 1,  232,  254,  288, 
316,  402. 

Prophecy,  Prophets,  28,  168, 
I79»  368.  See  also  Previ- 
sion. 

Prostitution,  242,  251,  431,  422. 

Proverbs,  18,  21. 

Psychoanalysis,  99. 

Psychological  aspects  of  in- 
temperance, 355,  422-3. 

Psychology,  37,  52,  60,  92-3, 
346,  430,  440,  479-80,  485; 
behavioristic,  see  Behav- 
ior; crowd  or  mob,  121,  347, 
see  Suggestibility;  Freu- 
dian, 37,  98-9,  434,  494,  see 
also  Sublimation;  genetic, 
37,  92 ;  physiological,  37,  89, 
95;  related  to  sociology,  41, 
64,  84-99  (Chapter  VII), 
492;  social,  60,  117,  118, 
118-139  (Chapter  IX),  211, 
478,  492,  494- 

Ptah-Hotep,  Instruction  of, 
21,  28. 


Public,  education,  see  Edu- 
cation ;  opinion,  see  Opin- 
ion ;  the,  466-7. 

Punishment,  137-8,  278,  283, 
321,  372,  409,  437;  for 
crime,  26,  410,  414-5. 

Purpose.    See  Policy,  Telesis. 


Quetelet,  20,  313,  330,  332. 


Race  safety,  242,  see  also 
Group  safety;  suicide,  447, 
450,  451,  452,  456. 

Races,  33,  379,  453,  498;  men- 
tality of,  498;  superior,  314- 
5.  444-5»  447»  4495  weaker, 
144,  444-6,  449. 

Racial,  amalgamation,  see 
Amalgamation;  competition, 
446-7,  451;  differences,  441- 
4,  see  also  Superiority; 
equality,  441-442;  factors  in 
social  progress,  7,  153,  248, 
430-1,  444,  441-458  (Chap- 
ter XXVII) ;  struggles,  192, 
254,  319-20,  330,  442,  447, 
492 ;  vigor,  449,  453,  497. 

Radicalism,  39,  172,  243,  499. 

Raleigh,  Walter,  148. 

Ratzenhofer,  213-4,  492. 

Reasoning,  39,  353.  See  also 
Intellect,  Mind. 

Reconstruction,  social,  504. 

Recreational,  422,  469,  497. 
See  also  Play. 

Reforms,  social,  29,  30,  35-6, 
361-3,^  493. 

Regulations  of  conduct  and 
activity,  21,  277,  279-80,  295, 
372,   41^-4,    419,   468;    eco- 


INDEX 


543 


nomic,    471 ;    of    marriage, 
see    Marriage;    social,    94, 
290,  465. 
Relativity   of    knowledge,    51, 

65.  131-3- 
Religion,  9,  11,  109,  137,  186, 
242,  291,  296,  298;  begin- 
nings of,  144,  267-9;  higher 
aspects  of,  269;  influence  of 
environment  on,  185,  269- 
70;  of  humanity,  56,  268, 
501;  permanency  of,  275-6; 
related  to  sociology,  64-5, 
500-4;  teachings  of,  26-27, 
272,  454,  502;  toleration  in, 

27,  34- 

Religious,  ethics,  501-4;  fer- 
vor, 56,  269,  273;  institu- 
tion, 207,  267-276  (Chapter 
XVII),  500-1;  symbols,  269; 
teachers,  see  Clergy,  Priest- 
hood; teachings,  26-7,  272, 
454,  501,  502. 

Remorse,  410,  416. 

Renaissance,   The,   33,   40. 

Reorganization,  social,  30,  367, 

373- 
Republic,  25, 
Revelations,  19. 
Revolutions,  33,  40,  324,  365, 

368,  414. 
Rights,    373,    470.     See    also 

Woman's  rights. 
Rigidity,  130,  192,  467. 
Rig-Veda,  26. 
Ripley,  William  Z.,   114. 
Rise  and  fall  of  nations.     See 

Nations. 
Roman,  Rome,  19,  30,  31,  239, 

257,   323- 
Romance    nations,     176,    448, 
449. 


Romanticism,  35,  246, 

Ross,  Edward  A.,  129,  214-5, 

408,  447. 
Rousseau,    Jean    Jacques,    35, 

89.  145,  325,  365,  387- 
Royal  road  to  learning,  167.  , 
Rural,  28. 
Russia,  17,  261,  276,  307,  365. 


Sabotage,  321,  396. 

Safety,     group.     See     Group, 

Race. 
Saint  Simon,  5. 
Safeguards,  social,  454-5,  456. 
Saloon,  the,  418,  419,  424,  425. 
Samurai,  319. 
Samuri,  Order  of  the,  312, 
Sanitation,    26,    69,    295,    400, 

405,  425-  _ 

Saracenic  civilization,  32,  33, 
171 ;  teachings,  32-3. 

Schaffle,  74,  84,  211,  491. 

Schools,  400,  421,  473-4,  475, 
476,  477,  478,  483,  494.  See 
also  Education. 

Science,  5,  20,  23,  199,  473, 
477;  abstract,  52,  57,  61,  64; 
beginnings  of  modern,  36- 
37;  methods  of,  20,  46,  68; 
of  sciences,  46,  54,  64,  95 ; 
social,  I,  2,  14,  18;  what  is?, 
14-20  (Chapter  II)  ;  begin- 
nings of,  38-49  (Chapter 
IV)  ;  three  aspects  of,  56-9; 
utility  of,  53-5,  472. 

Sciences,  the,  classification  of, 
40-1,  51-3.  58,  212-3,  491; 
complexity  of,  53,  55,  63; 
filiation  of,  53,  57,  205;  or- 
der of,  52-55,  484;  special 
social,   13,  61-2. 


544 


INDEX 


Scientific.     See  in  Index  the 

particular  word  modified  by 

this  adjective. 
Scientist,  the,  66,  473,  481,484. 
Sea,  the,  70,  315,  463,  495. 
Segregation,     410,     414,     415, 

430,     See  also  Elimination. 
Selection,    natural,    390,    393. 

See  also  Survival. 
Self-sufficing,  234-5. 
Senicide,  156. 
Sense,  common,  18,  38-9. 
Series  of  sciences,  51-6. 
Servants,  22. 
Sex,    distinctions    of,    439-40; 

ethics    of,    245,    432,    438-9, 

440. 
Sexual    desires,    96,    98,    108, 

207,    218,    242-3,    280,    351, 

428-9,    434;    diseases,    430, 

436 ;      immorality,      428-40, 

450;    relations,    240,    241-3; 

standards,     246,    251,    435; 

tabu,  242,  250,  429,  430,  433 ; 

vices,  434,  435. 
Sexuality,  education  in,  243. 
Similarity,  the  great,  25. 
Simple  life,  91,  145,  293,  386. 
Sin,  Sins,  294,  435,  502. 
Skulls,    classification   by,    114, 

315. 

Slavery,   35,   226-7,   228,  241, 

302,  324,  391;   a  new,  302. 

Slaves,  26,  31,   176,  322,  378, 

392. 
Small,  Albion  W.,  214,  492. 
Smith,  Adam,  36,  324,  471. 
Social,   defined,    104.     See   in 

Index    the    particular   word 

modified  by  this  adjective. 
Socialism,  14,  17,  48,  56,  368; 

guild,  16. 


Socialization,  129,  385,  416, 
494;  through  education,  371. 

Society,  1-13  (Chapter  I), 
134-5.  254,  see  also  341- 
358  (Chapter  XXI),  365, 
400,  405,  432-3,  454,  478; 
activities  of,  see  Activi- 
ties; agencies  of,  see  Agen- 
cies; explained,  I,  12,  105, 
143,  341 ;  leaders  in,  see 
Leaders;  need  for  a  science 
of,  39-40;  organic  theory 
of,  72-4. 

Sociological  data,  see  So- 
ciology; ethics,  502-4,  see 
also  Ethics,  Morals;  prin- 
ciples, 44,  362;  teachings, 
17-19,  21-37  (Chapter  III); 
theory,  66,  369. 

Sociologist,  Sociologists,  11, 
57,  456,  501. 

Sociology,  2,  13,  40,  376;  ap- 
plied, 49,  52;  and  achieve- 
ment, see  Achievement ; 
and  anthropology,  70-72 ; 
and  other  sciences,  67;  and 
philosophy,  63-5,  483;  and 
religion,  64-5,  500-4;  and  so- 
cial problems,  see  Prob- 
lems; a  synthetic  science, 
45-6,  62-3,  68;  basal  sciences 
for,  41,  45,  58,  59-60,  69-99 
(Chapters  VI-VII) ;  begin- 
nings of,  38-49  (Chapter 
IV),  491;  data  for,  43,  58, 
61-2,  71 ;  defined,  2,  46-8, 
61-3;  function  of,  44,  48-9; 
instruction  in,  493-4;  is 
anthropocentric,  54,  58,  66- 
8,  491;  methods  of,  41,  48; 
teachings  of,  187,  381 ; 
utility  of,  43-4,  67-8,  362-3. 


INDEX 


545 


Socrates,  482. 

Socius,   I,   103,  343,  493. 

Solidarity  of  the  race,  153. 

Sophists,  29,  342. 

"Soul  liberty,"  272. 

Soviets,  17,  261. 

Speculations,  23,  31,  37. 

Speech,  freedom  of.  See 
Freedom. 

Spencer,  Anna  Garlin,  241. 

Spencer,  Herbert,  6-y,  52,  74, 
91-3.  213,  328,413,491,  501; 
on  psychology,  92-3;  on  so- 
cial institutions,  92,  loi, 
152,  210-11. 

Spiral  theory,  33. 

Stages,  Comte's  three  stages, 
see  Comte ;  metaphysical 
stage,  6,  6^,  88-9;  of  civili- 
zation, 33 ;  of  custom 
(Morals),  277-81,  372,  394, 

471. 

Standards,  group,  283-4;  of 
living,  402,  406,  415,  450, 
455,  466,  see  also  Life; 
sexual,  see  Sexual;  static, 
300,  363,  443.  See  also 
Economic,  Ethical. 

State,  the,  9,  15,  16,  24,  30,  74, 

464,  485 ;  as  an  exploiter, 
395;  beginnings  of,  207, 
253;  development  of,  255, 
330;    duties   of,   293-5,   434, 

465,  471 ;  patriarchal,  254-5  ; 
powers  of,  258-9,  261 ;  re- 
lations with  the  church,  258, 
259,  274-5;  share  in  edu- 
cation, 473-5,  487-8;  world, 
257.  See  also  Government, 
Political. 

Statesmen,  266,  468,  472. 
Static    civilization,    30,     no. 


124,  125,  127,  132,  138,  157, 
182-202  (Chapter  XII),  363- 
4,  370,  469;  constitution, 
378,  380;  defined,  169-70, 
182;    social    institutions   of, 

3^7,  499. 
Statistics,  57,  80,  233,  313,  331, 

467,  504. 
Stoic   (philosophy,    6,    31,    35, 

393. 

Structure,  social,  100-2,  182. 

Stuckenberg,  J.  H.  W.,  492. 

Struggle  for  survival,  359-60, 
462,  see  also  Elimination, 
Survival;  of  classes,  see 
Class;  of  races,  see  Racial. 

Sublimation,  96,  99,  432,  494, 
503.    See  also  Freudian. 

Submarine,  464. 

"Submerged  tenth,"   174,  338, 

387. 
Substitutes     for    the     saloon, 

425- 
Suggestibility,  Suggestion,  97, 
98,    107,    1 18-123,    125,   201, 

394- 

Summary.  5"^^ 491-504  (Chap- 
ter XXX). 

Sumner,  W.  G.,  277,  330,  404. 

Superiority,  class,  315-325;  in- 
dividual, 325-334;  racial, 
314-5,  441-5,  447-8,  493;  so- 
cial, 314. 

Superior  man,  men,  22-24,  28, 

30,  327- 
Superman,   the,  83,   290,  313, 

329,  345,  493- 
Supernatural,   the,   6,    18,   55, 

108-9,  148,  198-9,  207,  271. 
Supremacy,  world,  31. 
Surplus,  235. 
Surveys,   social,   381. 


546 


INDEX 


Survival  of  the  strong  (the 
fit),  78,  79,  82,  150,  188, 
329,  428,  493.  See  also 
Elimination,    Struggle. 

Survivals,  social,   196,  204. 

Switzerland,  261,  366. 

Sympathy,  86,  92,  in,  152-3, 
188,  291,  292,  293. 

Syndicalism,  15,  16. 

Synthetic,  42,  45-6,  270, 

Synthetic  philosophy,  55,  152, 
491,  501.  See  also  Spencer 
(Herbert). 


Tabu,   417;    civilization,    278; 

elimination  of  the,  383,  388; 

in    sexuality,    see    Sexual; 

modification  of  the,  279;  of 

the    savage,    107,    109,    194. 

See  also  Prohibitions. 
Tabula  rasa,  81. 
Tacitus,  31,  225,  327,  328. 
Talent,  200,  489;  a  career  for, 

306-7;  growth  of,  176. 
Tarde,   Gabriel,   492. 
Taxation,    25,    233,    395,   457, 

474- 
Teachers,   136,  455,  476,  481, 

494; 

Telesis,  individual,  105 ;  so- 
cial, 68,  94,  105,  479,  482. 

Telic,  129,  263,  365-7.  Sec 
also  in  Index  the  particular 
word  modified  by  this  ad- 
jective. 

Temperance,  30,  419;  educa- 
tion a  factor  in,  420-1,  423, 

425. 
Tendencies,  mental,  97-8. 
Tennyson,  Alfred,  quoted,  359, 

364- 


Terminology,    social,    14,    17, 

84-5-  _ 

Theological  stage.  See  Comte's 
stages. 

Theology,  360,  502. 

Thomas,  W.  I.,  241. 

Toleration.  See  Morals,  Re- 
ligion. 

Tobnan,  William  H.,  397,  493, 

Tolstoi,  Leo,  91,  151,  173. 

Tools,  9-10,  146,  164,  198,474; 
of  the  mind,  19,  165. 

Totem,  Totemistic,  75,  86,  194. 

Trade,  228;  unions,  see  La- 
bor. 

Tradition,   Traditions,    18,   19, 

377.  441,  447- 
Transcendental,   297. 
Transition,  Age  of,  6,  8,  282, 

409. 
Transmigration  of  souls,  75. 
Trend,   economic,  236-7. 
Tropics,  70,  224,  463. 
Tropism,  95,  112. 
Truth,  132,  483,  485. 
Turgot,  5,  35. 
Tyrant,  4,  326,  327-8. 


United  States  of  America, 
237,  247,  336,  377-80,  417- 
8,  426,  448,  449,  450-2,  467- 

8,  471.  493.  496. 
Unions,  labor.    See  Labor. 
Unity  of  knowledge,  57,  484, 

491;  of  man,  2,  11,  31;  of 

social     institutions,     203-,; 

social,  387-8,  494. 
Universities,     481,    487,    489, 

493.    See  also  Colleges. 
Unskilled  labor.      See   Labor, 

Proletariat. 


INDEX 


547 


Urban,  28,  33,  229,  251,  294. 
See  also  City. 

Usiis,  108. 

Utilitarianism,  36,  67. 

Utility,  and  culture,  479-80;  of 
group  life,  104,  147;  of  sci- 
ence, 53-5,  472;  of  sociology, 
43-4,  67-8,  362-3. 

Utilization  of  nature's  ma- 
terial and  forces,  10,  12,  45, 
60,  146,  165,  198,  222,  230-1, 
310,  371,  460-1. 

Utopia,  Utopian,  3,  31,  34,  50, 
66,   91,    148,   295,   364,   386, 

504- 
Utopians,    teachings    of,    220, 

323,  454- 
Utopias,  social,  367-8. 


Va  Victis,  151. 
Veblen,  T.  B.,  493. 
Vedantic  literature,  26. 
Vice,  vices,  vicious,  399,  410, 

415,  449,  456. 
Vico,  34. 

Vigor,  racial,  449,  453,  497. 
Village   organization,  91,  256. 
Virgil,  76,  488. 
Vocations,   10,  398.     Sec  also 

Occupations. 
Voltaire,  35. 
Von  Baer,  75,  79,  82. 


Wage,  82,  115,  231-2,  294,  384, 
392,  406,  452,  462,  466. 

Wallis,  Louis,  28. 

Wanderlust,  148. 

War,  Warfare,  25,  31,  112, 
119,  120,  149-51,  171,  188, 
314,    447,    470;    band,    sec 


Band;  elimination  of,  263-4, 
464. 

Ward,  Lester  F.,  105,  241,  491, 
493;  classification  of  forces, 
212,  215-16,  218-19;  discus- 
sion of  genius,  334-5;  psy- 
chological teachings,  41,  93, 
492;  quoted,  51,  224,  362. 

Waste,  266,  362,  396,  416,  456, 
465,  478,  489,  497- 

Wealth,  Wealthy,  25,  131,  163, 
232,  233,  254,  262,  288,  298, 

495- 

Weismann,  79. 

Welfare,  the  public,  24,  103, 
201,  374,  450,  455,  495.  Sec 
also  Endemics. 

Wells,  H.  G.,  312. 

Western  civilization.  See  Civi- 
lization. 

Wife,  Wives,  23,  27,  139,  239, 
240-1,  358. 

"Wild  oats,"  435. 

"Will  to  power,"  31,  325. 

Wisdom,  18,  30,  193,  279,  468. 

Wisdom  literature,  19,  21. 

"Wisdom  of  the  East"  series, 

21,   78. 

Wise  sayings,  18,  28,  32. 

Wollstonecraft,  Mary,  244, 

Woman,  25,  26,  42,  209,  224, 
331,  351,  424-5;  equality  of, 
77-8;  influence  of,  243-5, 
251,  436-7;  rights  of,  244-5, 
251-2,  324. 

World  vi^ar,  the,  172,  190,  236- 
7,  251,  276,  291,  452,  464. 

Worship,  nature,  ii. 


Zend-Avesta,  26. 
Zoroaster,  26-7. 


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